Search results for "Sympatry"
showing 10 items of 56 documents
Molecules and morphology reveal cryptic variation among digeneans infecting sympatric mullets in the Mediterranean.
2009
SUMMARYWe applied a combined molecular and morphological approach to resolve the taxonomic status of Saccocoelium spp. parasitizing sympatric mullets (Mugilidae) in the Mediterranean. Eight morphotypes of Saccocoelium were distinguished by means of multivariate statistical analyses: 2 of Saccocoelium obesum ex Liza spp.; 4 of S. tensum ex Liza spp.; and 2 (S. cephali and Saccocoelium sp.) ex Mugil cephalus. Sequences of the 28S and ITS2 rRNA gene regions were obtained for a total of 21 isolates of these morphotypes. Combining sequence data analysis with a detailed morphological and multivariate morphometric study of the specimens allowed the demonstration of cryptic diversity thus rejecting…
Overestimation of the strength of size-assortative pairing in taxa with cryptic diversity: a case of Simpson's paradox.
2015
5 pages; International audience; Size-assortative pairing is one of the most common pairing patterns observed in nature and it probably occurs in many taxa with cryptic diversity. Observed patterns of size-assortative pairing in natural populations may thus be influenced by the co-occurrence of noninterbreeding cryptic groups of individuals living in sympatry. To quantify this potential bias, we sampled amphipods from the Gammarus pulex/Gammarus fossarum crustacean species complex in rivers containing two sympatric and morphologically cryptic groups, i.e. molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs). Within each river, MOTUs did not interbreed and differed in mean body size. We measured th…
Predatory interactions between a cyclopoid copepod and three sibling rotifer species
2002
SUMMARY 1. Cyclopoid copepod predation on rotifers affects the dynamics and structure of zooplankton communities. We address the differential vulnerability of three sympatric rotifer sibling species belonging to the Brachionus plicatilis species complex. These co-occur with their cyclopoid predator, Diacyclops bicuspidatus odessanus. 2. Using video recording and tracking, we analysed the steps in predation including attack distance, attack angle, and rotifer species swimming in the presence and absence of the predator. Our results show the greater vulnerability of B. rotundiformis (the smallest species) to D. b. odessanus predation, which is associated with a high percentage of attacks afte…
Species-specific sex pheromones secreted from new sexual glands in two sympatric fungus-growing termites from northern Vietnam, Macrotermes annandale…
2004
Reproductive isolation in termites is not well known. Our study carried out on two sympatric species from northern Vietnam, Macrotermes annandalei and M. barneyi, showed that dispersal flights and sex pheromones were two important factors in their reproductive isolation. These fungus-growing termites were isolated, partially due to the timing of their respective dispersal flights. M. annandalei flew the first day after rain, while the flights of M. barneyi occurred the second day after rain. However, the flights can also be simultaneous in the two species. Sex pheromones of M. annandalei and M. barneyi were shown to be species-specific. In both species, they were secreted by females from tw…
Ecological differentiation and reproductive isolation of two closely related sympatric species of Oenanthe (Apiaceae)
2010
Oenanthe conioides is a lower Elbe endemic plant species growing in the freshwater tidal zone around Hamburg (Germany). Its closest relative Oenanthe aquatica is widely distributed in Eurasia and grows in calm and shallow freshwater. The two species differ in habitat requirements but are otherwise sympatrically distributed, suggesting that ecological divergence has to be maintained in the face of gene flow. In the present study, we investigated ecological differentiation and reproductive isolation in these two species. An amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis found clear genetic differentiation between the two species implying reproductive isolation. A reciprocal transplantation e…
What do we need to know about speciation?
2011
Speciation has been a major focus of evolutionary biology research in recent years, with many important advances. However, some of the traditional organising principles of the subject area no longer provide a satisfactory framework, such as the classification of speciation mechanisms by geographical context into allopatric, parapatric and sympatry classes. Therefore, we have asked where speciation research should be directed in the coming years. Here, we present a distillation of questions about the mechanisms of speciation, the genetic basis of speciation and the relationship between speciation and diversity. Our list of topics is not exhaustive; rather we aim to promote discussion on rese…
Maintenance of male reaction to the congeneric song in the Hippolais warbler hybrid zone
1999
Both hybridization and competition may induce character shift on communication systems in hybrid zones, leading either to convergence or divergence. Melodious warblers Hippolais polyglotta and Icterine warblers H. icterina are interspecifically territorial and hybridize along a narrow contact zone. This spatial distribution is favoured by a reaction to the congeneric song. A character displacement, e.g. a decrease of the reaction, was expected within the hybrid zone because of reproduction costs lower than in allopatry. We investigated the pattern of variation of the interspecific reaction by comparing allopatric and sympatric populations. However, our data did not support the hypothesis ch…
Selection on size and secondary sexual characters of the damselfly Calopteryx splendens when sympatric with the congener Calopteryx virgo
2011
Male mating success is often determined by body size or secondary sexual characters because of female mate choice or competition for females. In addition to intraspecific interactions, interspecific interactions may interfere with intraspecific selection. In this study, we investigated sexual selection on size and sexual characters of male banded demoiselle ( Calopteryx splendens (Harris, 1780)) in wild populations sympatric with the beautiful demoiselle ( Calopteryx virgo (L., 1758)). As secondary sexual characters, male C. splendens have pigmented wing spots whose size appears to be under positive selection. Male C. virgo resemble male C. splendens that have the largest wing spots, leadi…
Evolution in the Arctic: a phylogeographic analysis of the circumarctic plant,Saxifraga oppositifolia(Purple saxifrage)
2003
Summary • A survey of chloroplast DNA variation in the circumarctic-alpine plant, Saxifraga oppositifolia, has resolved two highly divergent cpDNA lineages with geographically widespread and mainly allopatric distributions that are largely concordant with those of two subspecies, that is, subspp. oppositifolia and glandulisepala. These subspecies differ for a single morphological trait and hence level of morphological divergence does not equate to molecular divergence within the species. • The two cpDNA lineages were estimated to have diverged from their most recent common ancestor 5.37–3.76 Ma, that is, during the early to mid-Pliocene. • A nested clade analysis was conducted in an attempt…
Phylogeographic patterns of host-race evolution in Tephritis conura (Diptera: Tephritidae)
2006
Host-race evolution is a prime candidate for sympatric speciation because host shifts must take place in the presence of both hosts. However, the geographic context in which the shift takes place may have strong allopatric or peripatric components if the primary host within a localized area is scarce or even goes extinct. Inference of the relative importance of the geographic mode of speciation may be gained from phylogeographic imprints. Here, we investigate the phylogeography of host races of the tephritid fly Tephritis conura from sympatric, parapatric and allopatric populations of Cirsium heterophyllum and Cirsium oleraceum (Asteraceae) in Europe, for addressing the age and direction, a…