TY - JOUR A1 - Cornetti, Luca A1 - Valente, Luis M. A1 - Dunning, Luke T. A1 - Quan, Xueping A1 - Black, Richard A. A1 - Hebert, Olivier A1 - Savolainen, Vincent T1 - The Genome of the "Great Speciator" Provides Insights into Bird Diversification JF - Genome biology and evolution N2 - Among birds, white-eyes (genusZosterops) have diversified so extensively that Jared Diamond and Ernst Mayr referred to them as the 'great speciator." The Zosterops lineage exhibits some of the fastest rates of species diversification among vertebrates, and its members are the most prolific passerine island colonizers. We present a high-quality genome assembly for the silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), a white-eye species consisting of several subspecies distributed across multiple islands. We investigate the genetic basis of rapid diversification in white-eyes by conducting genomic analyses at varying taxonomic levels. First, we compare the silvereye genome with those of birds from different families and searched for genomic features that may be unique to Zosterops. Second, we compare the genomes of different species of white-eyes from Lifou island (South Pacific), using whole genome resequencing and restriction site associated DNA. Third, we contrast the genomes of two subspecies of silvereye that differ in plumage color. In accordance with theory, we show that white-eyes have high rates of substitutions, gene duplication, and positive selection relative to other birds. Below genus level, we find that genomic differentiation accumulates rapidly and reveals contrasting demographic histories between sympatric species on Lifou, indicative of past interspecific interactions. Finally, we highlight genes possibly involved in color polymorphism between the subspecies of silvereye. By providing the first whole-genome sequence resources for white-eyes and by conducting analyses at different taxonomic levels, we provide genomic evidence underpinning this extraordinary bird radiation. KW - genome evolution KW - positive selection KW - gene duplication KW - phylogenomics KW - demography KW - morphological divergence Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evv168 SN - 1759-6653 VL - 7 IS - 9 SP - 2680 EP - 2691 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valente, Luis M. A1 - Etienne, Rampal S. A1 - Phillimore, Albert B. T1 - The effects of island ontogeny on species diversity and phylogeny JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences N2 - A major goal of island biogeography is to understand how island communities are assembled over time. However, we know little about the influence of variable area and ecological opportunity on island biotas over geological time-scales. Islands have limited life spans, and it has been posited that insular diversity patterns should rise and fall with an island's ontogeny. The potential of phylogenies to inform us of island ontogenetic stage remains unclear, as we lack a phylogenetic framework that focuses on islands rather than clades. Here, we present a parsimonious island-centric model that integrates phylogeny and ontogeny into island biogeography and can incorporate a negative feedback of diversity on species origination. This framework allows us to generate predictions about species richness and phylogenies on islands of different ages. We find that peak richness lags behind peak island area, and that endemic species age increases with island age on volcanic islands. When diversity negatively affects rates of immigration and cladogenesis, our model predicts speciation slowdowns on old islands. Importantly, we find that branching times of in situ radiations can be informative of an island's ontogenetic stage. This novel framework provides a quantitative means of uncovering processes responsible for island biogeography patterns using phylogenies. KW - island biogeography KW - volcanic ontogeny KW - phylogeny KW - radiation KW - endemicity Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.3227 SN - 0962-8452 SN - 1471-2954 VL - 281 IS - 1784 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valente, Luis M. A1 - Phillimore, Albert B. A1 - Etienne, Rampal S. T1 - Equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics simultaneously operate in the Galápagos islands JF - Ecology letters N2 - Island biotas emerge from the interplay between colonisation, speciation and extinction and are often the scene of spectacular adaptive radiations. A common assumption is that insular diversity is at a dynamic equilibrium, but for remote islands, such as Hawaii or Galápagos, this idea remains untested. Here, we reconstruct the temporal accumulation of terrestrial bird species of the Galápagos using a novel phylogenetic method that estimates rates of biota assembly for an entire community. We show that species richness on the archipelago is in an ascending phase and does not tend towards equilibrium. The majority of the avifauna diversifies at a slow rate, without detectable ecological limits. However, Darwin's finches form an exception: they rapidly reach a carrying capacity and subsequently follow a coalescent-like diversification process. Together, these results suggest that avian diversity of remote islands is rising, and challenge the mutual exclusivity of the non-equilibrium and equilibrium ecological paradigms. KW - Community assembly KW - diversification KW - dynamic equilibrium KW - island biogeography KW - phylogeny Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12461 SN - 1461-0248 SN - 1461-023X VL - 18 SP - 844 EP - 852 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Oxford ER -