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Molecular phylogenetic evidence for a mimetic radiation in Peruvian poison frogs supports a Mullerian mimicry hypothesis.

ABSTRACT: Examples of Müllerian mimicry, in which resemblance between unpalatable species confers mutual benefit, are rare in vertebrates. Strong comparative evidence for mimicry is found when the colour and pattern of a single species closely resemble several different model species simultaneously in different geographical regions. Todemonstrate this, it is necessary to provide compelling evidence that the putative mimics do, in fact, form a monophyletic group. We present molecular phylogenetic evidence that the poison frog Dendrobates imitator mimics three different poison frogs in different geographical regions in Peru. DNA sequences from four different mitochondrial gene regions in putative members of a single species are analysed using parsimony, maximum-likelihood and neighbour-joining methods. The resulting hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships demonstrate that the different populations of D.imitator form a monophyletic group. To our knowledge, these results provide the first evidence for a Müllerian mimetic radiation in amphibians in which a single species mimics different sympatric species in different geographical regions.

SUBMITTER: Symula R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1088895 | biostudies-other | 2001 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Molecular phylogenetic evidence for a mimetic radiation in Peruvian poison frogs supports a Müllerian mimicry hypothesis.

Symula R R Schulte R R Summers K K

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20011201 1484

Examples of Müllerian mimicry, in which resemblance between unpalatable species confers mutual benefit, are rare in vertebrates. Strong comparative evidence for mimicry is found when the colour and pattern of a single species closely resemble several different model species simultaneously in different geographical regions. Todemonstrate this, it is necessary to provide compelling evidence that the putative mimics do, in fact, form a monophyletic group. We present molecular phylogenetic evidence ...[more]

PMID: 11747559

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Project description:The unpalatable and warning-patterned butterflies Heliconius erato and Heliconius melpomene provide the best studied example of mutualistic Müllerian mimicry, thought-but rarely demonstrated-to promote coevolution. Some of the strongest available evidence for coevolution comes from phylogenetic codivergence, the parallel divergence of ecologically associated lineages. Early evolutionary reconstructions suggested codivergence between mimetic populations of H. erato and H. melpomene, and this was initially hailed as one of the most striking known cases of coevolution. However, subsequent molecular phylogenetic analyses found discrepancies in phylogenetic branching patterns and timing (topological and temporal incongruence) that argued against codivergence. We present the first explicit cophylogenetic test of codivergence between mimetic populations of H. erato and H. melpomene, and re-examine the timing of these radiations. We find statistically significant topological congruence between multilocus coalescent population phylogenies of H. erato and H. melpomene. Cophylogenetic historical reconstructions support repeated codivergence of mimetic populations, from the base of the sampled radiations. Pairwise distance correlation tests, based on our coalescent analyses plus recently published AFLP and wing colour pattern gene data, also suggest that the phylogenies of H. erato and H. melpomene show significant topological congruence. Divergence time estimates, based on a Bayesian coalescent model, suggest that the evolutionary radiations of H. erato and H. melpomene occurred over the same time period, and are compatible with a series of temporally congruent codivergence events. Our results suggest that differences in within-species genetic divergence are the result of a greater overall effective population size for H. erato relative to H. melpomene and do not imply incongruence in the timing of their phylogenetic radiations. Repeated codivergence between Müllerian co-mimics, predicted to exert mutual selection pressures, strongly suggests coevolution. Our results therefore support a history of reciprocal coevolution between Müllerian co-mimics characterised by phylogenetic codivergence and parallel phenotypic change.

Dataset Information

Molecular phylogenetic evidence for a mimetic radiation in Peruvian poison frogs supports a Mullerian mimicry hypothesis.

Publications

Molecular phylogenetic evidence for a mimetic radiation in Peruvian poison frogs supports a Müllerian mimicry hypothesis.

Similar Datasets

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