Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Evolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole

View ORCID ProfileEvan P Economo, Jen-Pan Huang, Georg Fischer, Eli M Sarnat, Nitish Narula, Milan Janda, Benoit Guénard, John T Longino, L. Lacey Knowles
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/295386
Evan P Economo
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Evan P Economo
  • For correspondence: evaneconomo@gmail.com
Jen-Pan Huang
University of Michigan;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Georg Fischer
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Eli M Sarnat
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Nitish Narula
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Milan Janda
UNAM Morelia;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Benoit Guénard
University of Hong Kong;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
John T Longino
University of Utah
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
L. Lacey Knowles
University of Michigan;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

AIM: The latitudinal diversity gradient is the dominant pattern of life on Earth, but a consensus understanding of its origins has remained elusive. The analysis of recently diverged, hyper-rich invertebrate groups provides an opportunity to investigate latitudinal patterns with the statistical power of large trees while minimizing potentially confounding variation in ecology and history. Here, we synthesize global phylogenetic and macroecological data on a hyperdiverse (>1100 species) ant radiation, Pheidole, and evaluate the roles of three general explanations for the latitudinal gradient: variation in diversification rate, tropical conservatism, and ecological regulation. LOCATION: Global. TIME PERIOD: The past 35 million years. MAJOR TAXA STUDIED: The hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole Westwood. METHODS: We assembled geographic data for 1499 species and morphospecies, and inferred a dated phylogeny of Pheidole of 449 species, including 150 species newly sequenced for this study. We tested correlations between diversification rate and latitude with BAMM, HiSSE, GeoSSE, and FiSSE, and examined patterns of diversification as Pheidole spread around the globe. RESULTS: We found that Pheidole diversification occurred in series of bursts when new continents were colonized, followed by a slowdown in each region. There was no evidence of systematic variation of net diversification rates with latitude across any of the methods. Additionally, we found latitudinal affinity is moderately conserved with a Neotropical ancestor and phylogenetic inertia alone is sufficient to produce the gradient pattern. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Overall our results are consistent with tropical conservatism explaining the diversity gradient, while providing no evidence that diversification rate varies systematically with latitude. There is evidence of ecological regulation on continental scales through the pattern of diversification after colonization. These results shed light on the mechanisms underlying the diversity gradient, while contributing toward a much-needed invertebrate perspective on global biodiversity dynamics.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted April 27, 2018.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Evolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
Share
Evolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole
Evan P Economo, Jen-Pan Huang, Georg Fischer, Eli M Sarnat, Nitish Narula, Milan Janda, Benoit Guénard, John T Longino, L. Lacey Knowles
bioRxiv 295386; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/295386
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Evolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole
Evan P Economo, Jen-Pan Huang, Georg Fischer, Eli M Sarnat, Nitish Narula, Milan Janda, Benoit Guénard, John T Longino, L. Lacey Knowles
bioRxiv 295386; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/295386

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Evolutionary Biology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (996)
  • Biochemistry (1485)
  • Bioengineering (938)
  • Bioinformatics (6803)
  • Biophysics (2414)
  • Cancer Biology (1782)
  • Cell Biology (2514)
  • Clinical Trials (106)
  • Developmental Biology (1683)
  • Ecology (2553)
  • Epidemiology (1488)
  • Evolutionary Biology (5003)
  • Genetics (3598)
  • Genomics (4614)
  • Immunology (1157)
  • Microbiology (4222)
  • Molecular Biology (1617)
  • Neuroscience (10743)
  • Paleontology (81)
  • Pathology (236)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (407)
  • Physiology (552)
  • Plant Biology (1445)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (410)
  • Synthetic Biology (542)
  • Systems Biology (1868)
  • Zoology (257)