Miocene climate and habitat change drove diversification in Bicyclus, Africa’s largest radiation of satyrine butterflies

Aduse-Poku, K., van Bergen, E., Sáfián, S., Collins, S. C., Etienne, R. S., Herrera-Alsina, L., Brakefield, P. M., Brattström, O. , Lohman, D. J. and Wahlberg, N. (2022) Miocene climate and habitat change drove diversification in Bicyclus, Africa’s largest radiation of satyrine butterflies. Systematic Biology, 71(3), pp. 570-588. (doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syab066) (PMID:34363477) (PMCID:PMC9016770)

Abstract

Compared to other regions, the drivers of diversification in Africa are poorly understood. We studied a radiation of insects with over 100 species occurring in a wide range of habitats across the Afrotropics to investigate the fundamental evolutionary processes and geological events that generate and maintain patterns of species richness on the continent. By investigating the evolutionary history of Bicyclus butterflies within a phylogenetic framework, we inferred the group’s origin at the Oligo-Miocene boundary from ancestors in the Congolian rainforests of central Africa. Abrupt climatic fluctuations during the Miocene (ca. 19-17 Ma) likely fragmented ancestral populations, resulting in at least eight early-divergent lineages. Only one of these lineages appears to have diversified during the drastic climate and biome changes of the early Miocene, radiating into the largest group of extant species. The other seven lineages diversified in forest ecosystems during the late Miocene and Pleistocene when climatic conditions were more favourable–warmer and wetter. Our results suggest changing Neogene climate, uplift of eastern African orogens, and biotic interactions might have had different effects on the various subclades of Bicyclus, producing one of the most spectacular butterfly radiations in Africa.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the European Research Council grant EMARES [250325 to P.M.B.] and NSF [DEB-1541557 to D.J.L.]; the Swedish Research Council [Grant No. 2015-04441 to N.W.].
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Brattstrom, Dr Oskar
• Authors: Aduse-Poku, K., van Bergen, E., Sáfián, S., Collins, S. C., Etienne, R. S., Herrera-Alsina, L., Brakefield, P. M., Brattström, O., Lohman, D. J., and Wahlberg, N.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Life Sciences; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Systematic Biology
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 1063-5157
• ISSN (Online): 1076-836X
• Published Online: 07 August 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Systematic Biology 71(3): 570-588
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License