Speciation: Frog Mimics Prefer Their Own

SummaryRanitomeya poison frogs in the Peruvian Amazon are a rare example of Müllerian mimicry in vertebrates. These frogs also prefer to court same-coloured mimics. This suggests that divergence in mimicry plays a role in reproductive isolation

A Night Out with the Nerds

Simon Singh and Richard Wiseman draw on examples from physics to psychology, to explore the extraordinary in the ordinary in their innovative new play Theatre of Scienc

Snakes: Oriented families of periodic orbits, their sources, sinks, and continuation

AbstractPoincaré observed that for a differential equation x′ = ƒ(x, α) depending on a parameter α, each periodic orbit generally lies in a connected family of orbits in (x, α)-space. In order to investigate certain large connected sets (denoted Q) of orbits containing a given orbit, we introduce two indices: an orbit index φ and a “center” index defined at certain stationary points. We show that genetically there are two types of Hopf bifurcation, those we call “sources” ( = 1) and “sinks” ( = −1). Generically if the set Q is bounded in (x, α)-space, and if there is an upper bound for periods of the orbits in Q, then Q must have as many source Hopf bifurcations as sink Hopf bifurcations and each source is connected to a sink by an oriented one-parameter “snake” of orbits. A “snake” is a maximal path of orbits that contains no orbits whose orbit index is 0. See Fig. 1.1

Sympatric speciation by allochrony?

Sympatric speciation was once thought most improbable, but careful study of some systems, particularly the apple maggot (Rhagoletis pomonella) and related Rhagoletis species, has led to its reinstatement as a likely mode of speciation in some cases. Different species and host races in this clade of flies often have highly specialized host preference, and along with frequent evolutionary shifts to different fruit species between sister taxa, there is a likely effect of the timing of adult emergence that follows host fruiting phenology. This is known as “allochronic” isolation (from the Greek meaning “different timing”). This overview covers recent discoveries by Inskeep et al. (Molecular Ecology, 2021) showing how allochrony is a major factor in preventing gene flow between a pair of sister species of Rhagoletis on different host fruits. Although the authors do not claim to prove sympatric speciation, it does seem very likely, and the work clearly underscores how readily host shifts via allochrony can aid sympatric speciation

Evolution: Mimicry meets the mitochondrion

AbstractA recent molecular study of the evolution of mimicry in tropical butterflies of the genus Heliconius proves that the mimics adapted to previously diverged ‘model’ species, but does not clearly distinguish between opposing views of how the model species diverged

New genomes clarify mimicry evolution

For over 100 years, it has been known that polymorphic mimicry is often switched by simple mendelian factors, yet the physical nature of these loci had escaped characterization. Now, the genome sequences of two swallowtail butterfly (Papilio) species have enabled the precise identification of a locus underlying mimicry, adding to unprecedented recent discoveries in mimicry genetics.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Hibridación natural en mariposas heliconinas: el límite de las especies como un continuo

Background To understand speciation and the maintenance of taxa as separate entities, we need information about natural hybridization and gene flow among species. Results Interspecific hybrids occur regularly in Heliconius and Eueides (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in the wild: 26–29% of the species of Heliconiina are involved, depending on species concept employed. Hybridization is, however, rare on a per-individual basis. For one well-studied case of species hybridizing in parapatric contact (Heliconius erato and H. himera), phenotypically detectable hybrids form around 10% of the population, but for species in sympatry hybrids usually form less than 0.05% of individuals. There is a roughly exponential decline with genetic distance in the numbers of natural hybrids in collections, both between and within species, suggesting a simple 'exponential failure law' of compatibility as found in some prokaryotes. Conclusion Hybridization between species of Heliconius appears to be a natural phenomenon; there is no evidence that it has been enhanced by recent human habitat disturbance. In some well-studied cases, backcrossing occurs in the field and fertile backcrosses have been verified in insectaries, which indicates that introgression is likely, and recent molecular work shows that alleles at some but not all loci are exchanged between pairs of sympatric, hybridizing species. Molecular clock dating suggests that gene exchange may continue for more than 3 million years after speciation. In addition, one species, H. heurippa, appears to have formed as a result of hybrid speciation. Introgression may often contribute to adaptive evolution as well as sometimes to speciation itself, via hybrid speciation. Geographic races and species that coexist in sympatry therefore form part of a continuum in terms of hybridization rates or probability of gene flow. This finding concurs with the view that processes leading to speciation are continuous, rather than sudden, and that they are the same as those operating within species, rather than requiring special punctuated effects or complete allopatry. Although not qualitatively distinct from geographic races, nor 'real' in terms of phylogenetic species concepts or the biological species concept, hybridizing species of Heliconius are stably distinct in sympatry, and remain useful groups for predicting morphological, ecological, behavioural and genetic characteristics

Admixture of evolutionary rates across a butterfly hybrid zone

Hybridization is a major evolutionary force that can erode genetic differentiation between species, whereas reproductive isolation maintains such differentiation. In studying a hybrid zone between the swallowtail butterflies Papilio syfanius and Papilio maackii (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), we made the unexpected discovery that genomic substitution rates are unequal between the parental species. This phenomenon creates a novel process in hybridization, where genomic regions most affected by gene flow evolve at similar rates between species, while genomic regions with strong reproductive isolation evolve at species-specific rates. Thus, hybridization mixes evolutionary rates in a way similar to its effect on genetic ancestry. Using coalescent theory, we show that the rate-mixing process provides distinct information about levels of gene flow across different parts of genomes, and the degree of rate-mixing can be predicted quantitatively from relative sequence divergence (FST ) between the hybridizing species at equilibrium. Overall, we demonstrate that reproductive isolation maintains not only genomic differentiation, but also the rate at which differentiation accumulates. Thus, asymmetric rates of evolution provide an additional signature of loci involved in reproductive isolation