Hybridization promotes speciation in Coenonympha butterflies

Hybridization has become a central element in theories of animal evolution during the last decade. New methods in population genomics and statistical model testing now allow the disentangling of the complexity that hybridization brings into key evolutionary processes such as local adaptation, colonization of new environments, species diversification and extinction. We evaluated the consequences of hybridization in a complex of three alpine butterflies in the genus Coenonympha, by combining morphological, genetic and ecological analyses. A series of Approximate Bayesian Computation procedures based on a large SNP dataset strongly suggest that the Darwin’s Heath (C. darwiniana) originated through hybridization between the Pearly Heath (C. arcania) and the Alpine Heath (C. gardetta) with different parental contributions. As a result of hybridization, the Darwin’s Heath presents an intermediate morphology between the parental species while its climatic niche seems more similar to the Alpin...

近十年来，杂交已成为动物进化理论研究中的核心议题。当前，群体基因组学与统计模型检验领域的新兴方法，已能够解析杂交为局部适应、新环境定殖、物种分化与灭绝等核心进化过程引入的复杂效应。本研究结合形态学、遗传学与生态学分析手段，对眼蝶属（Coenonympha）内3种高山蝴蝶构成的复合类群中的杂交效应开展了评估。基于大型单核苷酸多态性（Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, SNP）数据集的一系列近似贝叶斯计算（Approximate Bayesian Computation）分析结果强烈显示，达尔文石南眼蝶（C. darwiniana）由珍石南眼蝶（C. arcania）与高山石南眼蝶（C. gardetta）杂交起源，且二者的亲本遗传贡献存在差异。杂交使得达尔文石南眼蝶呈现出介于亲本物种之间的中间形态，但其气候生态位似乎更接近高山类群（原文后续内容未完整呈现）。