A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Prehistorical climate change increased diversification of a group of butterflies
Authors: Pena C, Wahlberg N
Publisher: ROYAL SOC
Publication year: 2008
Journal:: Biology Letters
Journal name in source: BIOLOGY LETTERS
Journal acronym: BIOL LETTERS
Volume: 4
Issue: 3
First page : 274
Last page: 278
Number of pages: 5
ISSN: 1744-9561
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0062
Abstract
Satyrinae butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) and grasses (Poaceae) are very diverse and distributed worldwide. Most Satyrinae use grasses as host plants, but the temporal scale of this tight association is not known. Here, we present a phylogenetic study of Satyrinae butterflies and related groups, based on 5.1 kilobases from six gene regions and 238 morphological characters for all major lineages in the 'satyrine clade'. Estimates of divergence times calibrated using a fossil from the Late Oligocene indicate that the species-rich tribe Satyrini diversified to its current 2200 species simultaneously with the expansion and radiation of grasses during the dramatic cooling and drying up of the Earth in the Oligocene. We suggest that the adaptive radiation of grass feeders in Satyrini has been facilitated by the ubiquitousness of grasses since 25 Myr ago, which was triggered by a change in global climate.
Satyrinae butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) and grasses (Poaceae) are very diverse and distributed worldwide. Most Satyrinae use grasses as host plants, but the temporal scale of this tight association is not known. Here, we present a phylogenetic study of Satyrinae butterflies and related groups, based on 5.1 kilobases from six gene regions and 238 morphological characters for all major lineages in the 'satyrine clade'. Estimates of divergence times calibrated using a fossil from the Late Oligocene indicate that the species-rich tribe Satyrini diversified to its current 2200 species simultaneously with the expansion and radiation of grasses during the dramatic cooling and drying up of the Earth in the Oligocene. We suggest that the adaptive radiation of grass feeders in Satyrini has been facilitated by the ubiquitousness of grasses since 25 Myr ago, which was triggered by a change in global climate.
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