Reconstructing evolution at the community level: A case study on Mediterranean amphibians

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Sarah EhlMichael Veith

Abstract

Reconstructing reliable timescales for species evolution is an important and indispensable goal of modern biogeography. However, many factors influence the estimation of divergence times, and uncertainty in the inferred time trees remains a major issue that is often insufficiently acknowledged. We here focus on a fundamental problem of time tree analysis: the combination of slow-evolving (nuclear DNA) and fast-evolving (mitochondrial DNA) markers in a single time tree. Both markers differ in their suitability to infer divergences at different time scales (the 'genome-timescale-dilemma'). However, strategies to infer shallow and deep divergences in a single time tree have rarely been compared empirically. Using Mediterranean amphibians as model system that is exceptional in its geographic and taxonomic completeness of available genetic information, we analyze 202 lineages of western Palearctic amphibians across the entire Mediterranean region. We compiled data of four nuclear and five mitochondrial genes and used twelve fossil calibration points widely acknowledged for amphibian evolution. We reconstruct time trees for an extensive lineage-level data set and compare the performances of the different trees: the first tree is base...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 30, 2019·Molecular Ecology·Christophe DufresnesMathieu Denoël
Oct 24, 2019·Molecular Ecology·Jan W Arntzen
Sep 15, 2019·Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution·Christophe DufresnesSpartak Litvinchuk
Jan 3, 2021·Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution·James D BurgonKathryn R Elmer
Jan 13, 2021·Integrative Zoology·Christophe DufresnesRomain Savary
Dec 10, 2020·Zoology : Analysis of Complex Systems, ZACS·M NajibzadehM Veith
Jul 3, 2021·Animals : an Open Access Journal From MDPI·Marcello MezzasalmaFabio Maria Guarino
Nov 12, 2021·Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution·Kevin P MulderGuillermo Velo-Antón

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