Chazot Nicolas, Braga Mariana P, Aubier Thomas G, Llaurens Violaine, Willmott Keith R, Elias Marianne
Am Nat. 2025 Jul;206(1):1-15. doi: 10.1086/735835. Epub 2025 May 21.
AbstractDisentangling the relative importance of biotic versus abiotic factors at a macroevolutionary scale is key to our understanding of the processes of diversification. Mutualistic Müllerian mimicry is a compelling example of an ecological interaction that affects population and species ecology and evolution. Here, we test how Müllerian mimicry shapes macroevolutionary patterns of diversification in the Ithomiini butterflies. We show that the age of color patterns is the most important predictor of species richness within mimicry rings but does not predict phylogenetic diversity of mimicry rings. We find pervasive phylogenetic signal in mimicry rings and in color patterns associated within polymorphic species. Only a small set of mimicry rings show high phylogenetic diversity. We identify patterns of saturation in the accumulation of new mimicry rings and in the number of evolutionary convergences toward the most species-rich mimicry rings. We discuss how the time-dependent effects detected in our study illustrate how neutral processes and ecological interactions interact and shape species and phenotypic diversification. Our results show that selection driven by mimetic interaction has not erased the effect of time and phylogenetic signal on the formation of mimicry rings but ecological saturation linked to mimetic interactions affected the dynamics of color pattern evolution and species diversification.
摘要
在宏观进化尺度上厘清生物因素与非生物因素的相对重要性，是我们理解多样化过程的关键。互利性缪勒拟态是一种影响种群和物种生态与进化的生态相互作用的引人注目的例子。在此，我们测试缪勒拟态如何塑造伊托米蝶族蝴蝶多样化的宏观进化模式。我们表明，色斑模式的年代是拟态环内物种丰富度的最重要预测因子，但不能预测拟态环的系统发育多样性。我们在拟态环以及多态物种内相关的色斑模式中发现了普遍的系统发育信号。只有一小部分拟态环显示出高系统发育多样性。我们确定了新拟态环积累以及向物种最丰富的拟态环进化趋同数量方面的饱和模式。我们讨论了在我们的研究中检测到的时间依赖性效应如何说明中性过程和生态相互作用如何相互作用并塑造物种和表型多样化。我们的结果表明，由拟态相互作用驱动的选择并未消除时间和系统发育信号对拟态环形成的影响，但与拟态相互作用相关的生态饱和影响了色斑模式进化和物种多样化的动态。
