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When polymorphism and monomorphism meet: discordant genomic and phenotypic clines across a lizard contact zone

View ORCID ProfileCaroline M. Dong, Claire A. McLean, Adam Elliott, Adnan Moussalli, Devi Stuart-Fox
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/840678
Caroline M. Dong
1School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia
2Sciences Department, Museums Victoria, Carlton Gardens, Vic., Australia
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  • ORCID record for Caroline M. Dong
  • For correspondence: caroline.dong@unimelb.edu.au
Claire A. McLean
1School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia
2Sciences Department, Museums Victoria, Carlton Gardens, Vic., Australia
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Adam Elliott
1School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia
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Adnan Moussalli
2Sciences Department, Museums Victoria, Carlton Gardens, Vic., Australia
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Devi Stuart-Fox
1School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia
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Abstract

Colour polymorphism can promote rapid evolution and speciation, particularly when populations differ in the number or composition of morphs. The contact zone between Ctenophorus modestus (swift dragon) and C. decresii (tawny dragon) is a compelling study system in which to examine evolutionary processes and outcomes when polymorphic and monomorphic populations meet. Ctenophorus modestus is polymorphic for male throat coloration and lacks ultraviolet (UV) reflectance while C. decresii is monomorphic with UV-blue throats. We characterised genomic and phenotypic clines across the contact zone based on single nucleotide polymorphisms, the mitochondrial ND4 gene, and male colour traits, and concurrently assessed the phenotype of captive-bred F1 hybrids. Our results indicate that genomic introgression is asymmetric, with high frequencies of backcrossing to C. modestus but not C. decresii, accompanied by the prevalence of the C. modestus mtDNA haplotype in hybrids. The clines for throat phenotype are abrupt and displaced towards the range of C. decresii, relative to the genetic and dorsolateral phenotype clines. By contrast, both throat and dorsolateral phenotypes in captive-bred F1 hybrids are intermediate. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that throat coloration, a polymorphic sexual signal in C. modestus, is the target of selection during incipient speciation and provide insight into the microevolutionary processes that may link polymorphism and speciation.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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  • ↵† Joint last author

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted November 24, 2020.
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When polymorphism and monomorphism meet: discordant genomic and phenotypic clines across a lizard contact zone
Caroline M. Dong, Claire A. McLean, Adam Elliott, Adnan Moussalli, Devi Stuart-Fox
bioRxiv 840678; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/840678
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When polymorphism and monomorphism meet: discordant genomic and phenotypic clines across a lizard contact zone
Caroline M. Dong, Claire A. McLean, Adam Elliott, Adnan Moussalli, Devi Stuart-Fox
bioRxiv 840678; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/840678

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