Biology subjects

Penz, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Penz, C..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2019

Mesoamerica is a cradle and the Brazilian Atlantic Forest is a museum of Neotropical butterfly diversity (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Brassolini)

Regional species diversity is ultimately explained by speciation, extinction, and dispersal. Here we estimate dispersal and speciation rates of Neotropical butterflies to propose an explanation for their distribution and diversity of extant species. We focus on the tribe Brassolini (owl butterflies and allies): a Neotropical group that comprises 17 genera and 108 species, most of them endemic to rainforest biomes. We infer a robust species tree using the multispecies coalescent framework and a dataset including molecular and morphological characters. This formed the basis for three changes in Brassolini classification: 1) Naropina, SYN. NOV. is subsumed within Brassolina; 2) Aponarope, SYN. NOV. is subsumed within Narope; 3) Selenophanes orgetorix, COMB. NOV. is reassigned from Catoblepia to Selenophanes. By applying biogeographical stochastic mapping, we found contrasting species diversification and dispersal dynamics across rainforest biomes, which might be partly explained by the geological and environmental history of each bioregion. Our results reveal a mosaic of biome-specific evolutionary histories within the Neotropics, where butterfly species have diversified rapidly (cradles: Mesoamerica), have accumulated gradually (museums: Atlantic Forest), or have alternately diversified and accumulated (Amazonia). Our study contributes evidence from a major butterfly lineage that the Neotropics are a museum and cradle of species diversity.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Species limits in butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): Reconciling classical taxonomy with the multispecies coalescent

Species delimitation is at the core of biological sciences. During the last decade, molecular-based approaches have advanced the field by providing additional sources of evidence to classical, morphology-based taxonomy. However, taxonomy has not yet fully embraced molecular species delimitation beyond threshold-based, single-gene approaches, and taxonomic knowledge is not commonly integrated to multi-locus species delimitation models. Here we aim to bridge empirical data (taxonomic and genetic) with recently developed coalescent-based species delimitation approaches. We use the multispecies coalescent model as implemented in two Bayesian methods (DISSECT/STACEY and BP&P) to infer species hypotheses. In both cases, we account for phylogenetic uncertainty (by not using any guide tree) and taxonomic uncertainty (by measuring the impact of using or not a priori taxonomic assignment to specimens). We focus on an entire Neotropical tribe of butterflies, the Haeterini (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae). We contrast divergent taxonomic opinion--splitting, lumping and misclassifying species--in the light of different phenotypic classifications proposed to date. Our results provide a solid background for the recognition of 22 species. The synergistic approach presented here overcomes limitations in both traditional taxonomy (e.g. by recognizing cryptic species) and molecular-based methods (e.g. by recognizing structured populations, and not raise them to species). Our framework provides a step forward towards standardization and increasing reproducibility of species delimitations.

evolutionary biology↗