Open AccessA diversification relay race from Caribbean-Mesoamerica to the Andes: historical biogeography of Xylophanes hawkmoths
Author(s) -
Xuankun Li,
Chris A. Hamilton,
Ryan A. St Laurent,
Liliana BallesterosMejia,
Amanda Markee,
J. Haxaire,
Rodolphe Rougerie,
Ian J. Kitching,
Akito Y. Kawahara
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings - royal society. biological sciences/proceedings - royal society. biological sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1471-2954
pISSN - 0962-8452
DOI - 10.1098/rspb.2021.2435
Subject(s) - mesoamerica , biogeography , ecology , biological dispersal , geography , species richness , biology , endemism , phylogenetic tree , phylogeography , demography , archaeology , population , biochemistry , sociology , gene
The regions of the Andes and Caribbean-Mesoamerica are both hypothesized to be the cradle for many Neotropical lineages, but few studies have fully investigated the dynamics and interactions between Neotropical bioregions. The New World hawkmoth genusXylophanes is the most taxonomically diverse genus in the Sphingidae, with the highest endemism and richness in the Andes and Caribbean-Mesoamerica. We integrated phylogenomic and DNA barcode data and generated the first time-calibrated tree for this genus, covering 93.8% of the species diversity. We used event-based likelihood ancestral area estimation and biogeographic stochastic mapping to examine the speciation and dispersal dynamics ofXylophanes across bioregions. We also used trait-dependent diversification models to compare speciation and extinction rates of lineages associated with different bioregions. Our results indicate thatXylophanes originated in Caribbean-Mesoamerica in the Late Miocene, and immediately diverged into five major clades. The current species diversity and distribution ofXylophanes can be explained by two consecutive phases. In the first phase, the highestXylophanes speciation and emigration rates occurred in the Caribbean-Mesoamerica, and the highest immigration rates occurred in the Andes, whereas in the second phase the highest immigration rates were found in Amazonia, and the Andes had the highest speciation and emigration rates.