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Ecological and morphological patterns in communities of land snails of the genus Mandarina from the Bonin Islands
Author(s) -
Chiba Satoshi
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2004.00639.x
Subject(s) - ecotype , sympatric speciation , biology , adaptive radiation , ecology , arboreal locomotion , land snail , niche differentiation , sympatry , genus , ecological niche , niche , phylogenetic tree , gastropoda , habitat , biochemistry , gene
Abstract The land snail genus Mandarina has undergone extensive radiation within the Bonin Islands in the west Pacific. The preferred above‐ground vegetation heights of sympatric species were clearly different. They separated into arboreal, semi‐arboreal, exposed ground and sheltered ground ecotypes. Shells of species with different ecotypes differ markedly, but shells of species with the same ecotype are very similar to each other. Shell morphologies of some phylogenetically distantly related species with the same ecotype were indistinguishable. Character evolution estimated parsimoniously using a phylogenetic tree suggests that the speciation among sympatric species is accompanied by ecological and morphological diversification. In addition, species coexistence of Mandarina is related to niche differentiation. The above findings suggest that ecological interactions among species contribute to the ecological and morphological diversification and radiation of these land snails in this depauperate environment.