10.25338/B8V33D
Prebus, Matthew
0000-0001-8124-5939
Arizona State University
Phylogenomic species delimitation in the ants of the Temnothorax salvini
Group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): An integrative approach
Dryad
dataset
2020
FOS: Biological sciences
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
DEB-1354996
2021-02-19T00:00:00Z
2021-02-19T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12463
259559587 bytes
9
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
The members of the Temnothorax salvini species group are rarely collected,
arboreally nesting ants of Central American forests. Previously thought to
consist of two broadly dispersed species, recent collections have revealed
a diversity of specimens that defy the two-species salvini group concept,
but these are difficult to distinguish from each other based solely on
morphology. I contrast several model-based approaches to species
delimitation based on target-enriched genomic data. With molecular data
from thousands of ultraconserved elements (UCEs), mitochondrial genome
sequences, and morphometric data, I use an integrated approach to species
delimitation within the salvini group. Morphometric data were analyzed
using cluster analysis of principal component analysis (PCA) output. I use
several popular methods of molecular species delimitation, including bPTP,
BPP, and STACEY, using a novel approach to filtering UCE data based on
posterior predictive checks of nucleotide substitution model adequacy.
Additionally, I use iBPP to integrate morphometric PCA data and filtered
UCE data in a ‘total evidence’ analysis. I use geographical range data for
an independent contrast to discriminate amongst competing species
delimitation hypotheses. Furthermore, I investigate the evolutionary
timescale and biogeographical history of the group and find that it
evolved roughly 12.5 Ma ago in habitats associated with present day
mid-to-high elevations of the mountain complex spanning southern Mexico to
northern Nicaragua. Additionally, dispersal of the salvini group into the
Southern Sierra Madre in Mexico, lowland habitats, and the Sierra de
Talamanca in Costa Rica and Panama subsequent to mountain building in
southern Central America 5-8 Ma ago appears to follow a taxon-cycle
dynamic, with the lowland-adapted T. aztecus representing the most recent
expansion phase. I find that the salvini group, which previously contained
two named species, is composed of nine, all of which are morphologically
diagnosable a posteriori.
See the README file for a synopsis of the contents of the dataset.