Sympatric speciation by allochrony in a seabird

Friesen, V.L., Smith, A.L., Gomez-Diaz, E., Bolton, M., Furness, R.W., González-Solís, J. and Monteiro, L.R. (2007) Sympatric speciation by allochrony in a seabird. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(47), pp. 18589-18594. (doi: 10.1073/pnas.0700446104)

Abstract

The importance of sympatric speciation (the evolution of reproductive isolation between codistributed populations) in generating biodiversity is highly controversial. Whereas potential examples of sympatric speciation exist for plants, insects, and fishes, most theoretical models suggest that it requires conditions that are probably not common in nature, and only two possible cases have been described for tetrapods. One mechanism by which it could occur is through allochronic isolation-separation of populations by breeding time. Oceanodroma castro (the Madeiran or band-rumped storm-petrel) is a small seabird that nests on tropical and subtropical islands throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In at least five archipelagos, different individuals breed on the same islands in different seasons. We compared variation in five micro-satellite loci and the mitochondrial control region among 562 O. castro from throughout the species' range. We found that sympatric seasonal populations differ genetically within all five archipelagos and have ceased to exchange genes in two. Population and gene trees all indicate that seasonal populations within four of the archipelagos are more closely related to each other than to populations from the same season from other archipelagos; divergence of the fifth sympatric pair is too ancient for reliable inference. Thus, seasonal populations appear to have arisen sympatrically at least four times. This is the first evidence for sympatric speciation by allochrony in a tetrapod, and adds to growing indications that population differentiation and speciation can occur without geographic barriers to gene flow.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Furness, Professor Robert
• Authors: Friesen, V.L., Smith, A.L., Gomez-Diaz, E., Bolton, M., Furness, R.W., González-Solís, J., and Monteiro, L.R.
• Subjects: Q Science > QL Zoology; G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
• ISSN: 0027-8424