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MICROGEOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF SNAIL SHELL SHAPE AND PREDATOR BEHAVIOR
Author(s) -
Schilthuizen Menno,
Til Angelique van,
Salverda Merijn,
Liew ThorSeng,
James S. Sheena,
Elahan Berjaya bin,
Vermeulen Jaap J.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2006.tb00528.x
Subject(s) - allopatric speciation , biology , ecological speciation , ecology , genetic divergence , divergence (linguistics) , morphometrics , evolutionary biology , land snail , genetic algorithm , snail , gene flow , genetic variation , population , genetic diversity , genetics , linguistics , philosophy , demography , sociology , gene
Genetic divergence in geographically isolated populations is a prerequisite for allopatric speciation, one of the most common modes of speciation. In ecologically equivalent populations existing within a small, environmentally homogeneous area, an important role for environmentally neutral divergence is often found or inferred. We studied a species complex of conspicuously shaped Opisthostoma land snails on scattered limestone outcrops within a small area of lowland rainforest in Borneo. We used shell morphometrics, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, and marks of predation to study the factors involved in allopatric divergence. We found that a striking geographic divergence exists in shell morphology, which is partly associated with neutral genetic divergence. We also found geographic differentiation in the behavior of the snails' invertebrate predator and evidence of an evolutionary interaction between aspects of shell shape and predator behavior. Our study shows that adaptation to biotic aspects of the environment may play a more important role in allopatric speciation than previously suspected, even on a geographically very small scale.