bioRxiv Science⌕ Search
Home/Archive/bioRxiv

bioRxiv · 10.1101/141127

Parallel radiations of Cremastosperma and Mosannona (Annonaceae), tropical rainforest trees tracking Neogene upheaval of the South American continent

Pirie, M. D.·Maas, P. J. M.·Wilschut, R.·Melchers-Sharrott, H.·Chatrou, L.
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

This preprint has been reviewed and recommended by Peer Community In Evolutionary Biology (http://dx.doi.org/10.24072/pci.evolbiol.100033). Much of the immense present day biological diversity of Neotropical rainforests originated from the Miocene onwards, a period of geological and ecological upheaval in South America. We assess the impact of the Andean orogeny, drainage of lake Pebas, and closure of the Panama Isthmus on two clades of trees (Cremastosperma, c. 31 spp.; and Mosannona, c. 14 spp.; both Annonaceae) found in humid forest distributed across the transition zones between the Andes and Western (lowland) Amazonia and between Central and South America. We inferred phylogenies based on c. 80% of recognised species of each clade using plastid and nuclear encoded sequence markers, revealing similar patterns of geographically restricted clades. Using molecular dating we showed that diversifications in the different areas occurred in parallel, with timing consistent with Andean vicariance and Central American geodispersal. In apparent contradiction of high dispersal abilities of rainforest trees, Cremastosperma clades within Amazonia are also geographically restricted, with a southern/montane clade that appears to have diversified along the foothills of the Andes sister to one of more northern/lowland species that diversified in a region once inundated by lake Pebas. Ecological niche modelling approaches show phylogenetically conserved niche differentiation, particularly within Cremastosperma. Niche similarity and recent common ancestry of Amazon and Guianan Mosannona species contrasts with dissimilar niches and more distant ancestry of Amazon, Venezuelan and Guianan species of Cremastosperma suggesting that this element of the similar patterns of disjunct distributions in the two genera is instead a biogeographic parallelism, with differing origins. The results provide further independent evidence for the importance of the Andean orogeny, the drainage of Lake Pebas, and the formation of links between South and Central America in the evolutionary history of Neotropical lowland rainforest trees.

Source connections

Explore related subjects

evolutionary biologyPreprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Pirie, M. D., Maas, P. J. M., Wilschut, R., Melchers-Sharrott, H., Chatrou, L.. 2017-06-03. Parallel radiations of Cremastosperma and Mosannona (Annonaceae), tropical rainforest trees tracking Neogene upheaval of the South American continent. https://doi.org/10.1101/141127

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

The pupal stage shapes life-history trade-offs across metamorphosis

Dealing with ecological stressors during development often comes at the expense of later-life performance. Although such trade-offs are well studied as two-stage systems such as larva-adult trade-offs, they are rarely examined across multiple developmental stages, limiting our understanding of how ecological effects are integrated throughout complex life cycles. We addressed this gap using a multistage experimental framework in Aedes aegypti, where we exposed individuals to predation risk during the larval stage, the pupal stage, both stages, or neither, and quantified developmental, physiological, and adult fitness traits. Contrary to expectations, predation risk across successive stages did not produce cumulative fitness costs, and traits varied in their responses. Both males and females emerged faster when exposed to risk, with lighter bodies, but males paid an additional cost of reduced starvation resistance when the pupal stage was exposed. Surprisingly, despite their lower body mass, females showed enhanced reproductive performance when both stages were exposed to risk. Overall, responses were stage- and sex-specific, with exposure during the non-feeding pupal stage imposing greater life-history costs than larval exposure alone. Measurements across the larva-pupa-adult continuum further revealed that traits such as body mass and energy reserves respond differently before and after metamorphosis, highlighting the role of the pupa in mediating trade-offs. Our findings identify the pupal stage as a critical mediator of life-history trade-offs and demonstrate the value of a multistage framework for understanding the role of each stage in life-history evolution.

evolutionary biology↗
bioRxiv2026

Cell-lineage selection interacts with development and life history to shape the rates and identity of heritable mutations

Mutation rates determine the supply of heritable variation and are central to evolutionary theory, yet they are usually treated as properties of molecular mutational processes. We hypothesised that mutation rates are also shaped by selection among cell lineages within organisms and that the strength of this process depends on developmental and life-history traits. To test the extent of this idea, we combined mathematical modelling with experiments in Drosophila melanogaster and treated mutation rates as emergent properties of interactions among molecular mutagenesis, development, life history, and cell-lineage selection. The model predicts that even modest effects of mutations on cellular fitness can substantially alter the probability that mutations are transmitted, and that these effects depend strongly on developmental architecture, germline dynamics, and time to reproduction. In Drosophila, we experimentally demonstrate biased transmission of a mutation affecting cellular proliferation and show that this bias changes over the reproductive lifespan of the individual. Extending the model genome-wide reveals that the cellular distribution of fitness effects and its interaction with developmental parameters influence both the estimated mutation rate and the composition of transmitted mutations, producing transmission biases that favour mutations with particular cellular fitness effects. These results suggest that developmental and life-history parameters determine how cellular fitness effects translate into transmission bias; therefore, estimates of heritable mutational input can vary from species to species even under constant molecular mutagenesis. By filtering mutations before they enter populations, developmental and life-history evolution can modify both the rate and the nature of heritable variation and thereby influence evolutionary trajectories.

evolutionary biology↗
bioRxiv2026

A Deep Phylogenetic Split Between Short- and Long-Wavelength-Tuned Visual Systems in Surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae)

The light environment, coupled with ecology, is widely thought to drive visual adaptation, creating species-specific visual niches. However, coral reef ecosystems experience continuous spatiotemporal variations in light conditions, and mechanisms such as phenotypic plasticity may be essential for coral reef animals to adjust to such changing sensory requirements. It remains unclear how widespread colour vision plasticity is, or the extent to which ecology and phylogeny drive plasticity in coral reef fishes. Using a comparative transcriptomic approach across 22 species, we aimed to investigate visual plasticity within a prominent coral reef fish family, surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae), in response to changes in the light environment throughout development and across seasons in adults. Surprisingly, we uncovered a deep phylogenetic split (~42 mya) in visual opsin gene expression profiles, with Nasinae expressing a shorter-shifted palette than Acanthurinae, which coincides with the divide between water-column and benthic-feeding modalities during the speciation of their last common ancestor. However, opsin gene expression showed little variation in response to seasonal or ontogenetic shifts in the light environment, nor in the broad functional feeding groups extant species from both subfamilies fall under. Thus, the invariable visual gene expression observed in present-day surgeonfishes appears to be dictated by phylogenetic inertia, despite rapid diversification into a range of ecological niches. This suggests that spectral tuning into two main modalities, short and long, reduces the need for visual plasticity, allowing larger and more mobile coral reef fishes to conduct visually guided behaviours across the entire range of light environments they encounter.

evolutionary biology↗