Frozen Antarctic path for dispersal initiated parallel host-parasite evolution on different continents

Publication date: Available online 6 March 2019Source: Molecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionAuthor(s): Daniel Benda, Yuta Nakase, Jakub StrakaAbstractAfter the break-up of Gondwana dispersal of organisms between America, Australia and Africa became more complicated. One of the possible remaining paths led through Antarctica, that was not yet glaciated and it remained habitable for many organisms. This favourable climate made Antarctica an important migration corridor for organisms with good dispersal ability, such as Aculeata (Hymenoptera), till the Oligocene cooling. Here we tested how cooling of Antarctica impacted global dispersal of Aculeata parasites (Strepsiptera: Xenidae). Our data set comprising six nuclear genes from a broad sample of Xenidae. Bayesian dating was used to estimate divergence times in phylogenetic reconstruction. Biogeography was investigated using event-based analytical methods: likelihood-based dispersal–extinction–cladogenesis and Bayesian models. The Bayesian model was used for reconstruction of ancestral host groups. Biogeographical methods indicate that multiple lineages were exchanged between the New World and the Old World + Australia until the Antarctica became completely frozen over. During the late Paleogene and Neogene periods, several lineages spread from the Afrotropics to other Old World regions and Australia. The original hosts of Xenidae were most likely social wasps. Within one lineage of solitary wasp parasites, parallel switch t...

Source: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - March 6, 2019 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research