Biology subjects

Roman-Palacios, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Roman-Palacios, C..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Macroevolutionary Rates of Species Interactions: Approximate Bayesian Inference from Cophylogenies

Understanding the macroevolutionary dynamics of species interactions such as parasitisms, commen-salisms, and mutualisms is an important goal in evolutionary ecology. To this end, statistical inference from extant cophylogenetic systems holds immense potential. However, such inference cannot yet handle the speciation-extinction dynamics that occur simultaneously in the host and symbiont clades on the same timescale. Here we present an Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) approach that, while taking into account host and symbiont extinction, infers rates of four types of speciation from a cophylogenetic system: (i) host speciation, (ii) symbiont speciation without host-switching, (iii) symbiont speciation with host-switching, and (iv) cospeciation. The new ABC approach relies on a novel design of summary statistics combining both size-based (i.e., tree sizes) and size-free summary statistics (i.e., the normalized distribution of Branch Length Differences - BLenD) of the cophylogeny. Convergence analyses show that the combined design of summary statistics outperforms size-based or size-free summary statistics alone - achieving satisfactory accuracy in detecting rate heterogeneity between the four types of speciation. Our ABC approach allows the user to infer the predominant mode of speciation within a given cophylogenetic system. The approach is demonstrated with an application to a cophylogenetic dataset of commensalism, in which beetles of one genus mimic those of another. In this system, we identify host speciation as the predominant process with the fastest rate (in events per unit time) among all four types of speciation (i.e., 4.3-5.1 times faster than the median among all four types of speciation). Understanding how and why different types of speciation may predominate in different cophylogenetic systems can have implications for various areas in ecology and evolution such as host conservatism, trait-driven diversification, pathogen spillover risk, and parasite extinction risk. This new approach highlights the need and potential for future efforts to compile time-calibrated cophylogenies.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Mapping Animal Cultures: The Animal Culture Database (ACDB)

Socially transmitted behaviors are widespread across the animal kingdom, yet there is a lack of comprehensive datasets documenting their distribution and ecological significance. Knowledge of animal behavioral traditions could be essential for understanding many species responses to anthropogenic disturbances and further enhancing conservation efforts. Here, we introduce the first open-access database that synthesizes data on animal cultural behaviors and traditions. The Animal Culture Database (ACDB) contains descriptions of 128 behaviors including forms of vocal communication, migration, predator defense, foraging practices, habitat alteration, play, mating displays, and other social behaviors for a sample of 61 species. In addition to offering an open-access resource for researchers, educators, and conservationists, the ACDB represents a step toward recognizing the role of social learning in animal populations.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2025

SSARP: An R Package for Easily Creating Species- and Speciation- Area Relationships Using Web Databases

A universal method of quantifying patterns of biodiversity on islands is the species-area relationship (SAR). SARs visualize the relationship between species richness (the number of species) and the area of the land mass on which they live. An extension of this visualization, the speciation-area relationship (SpAR), helps researchers determine trends in speciation rate over a set of land masses. Comparing these relationships across island systems globally is an extremely difficult task because gathering and processing a large amount of species occurrence data and island data often requires researchers to conduct lengthy literature searches and combine datasets from several different sources. Here we present SSARP (Species/Speciation-Area Relationship Projector), an R package that provides a simple workflow for creating SARs and SpARs. The SSARP workflow allows users to gather occurrence data from GBIF, use mapping tools to determine whether the GPS points in the occurrence data refer to valid land masses, associate those land masses with their areas using a built-in dataset of island names and areas, and create SARs using linear and segmented regression. SSARP also provides multiple functions for estimating speciation rates for use in creating a SpAR. Using SSARP allows researchers to dramatically increase the scope of their biodiversity research through the creation of SARs and SpARs with data from island systems across the globe.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Decolonizing Psocopteran Systematics: Holarctic Lineages Cannot Inform Diversity and Evolution in Tropics

Despite tropical psocids comprise ~60% of species diversity within the Psocidae (Insecta, Psocodea), previous studies on the Psocidae phylogeny have poorly sampled tropical species (<40% species in trees). Here we discuss the evolution and systematics of the Psocidae based on the most comprehensive species-level sampling of the Psocidae. We sequenced and inferred the phylogenetic position of 43 previously unsampled Neotropical species from COI, H3, WNT, 18S, 16S, and 12S. Based on our phylogenies we found that Neotropical psocids are generally not closely related to morphologically similar taxa in the Holarctic region. Consequently, the monophyletic status for the major groups within Psocidae (subfamilies and tribes) is recovered only when Holarctic groups are sampled (7-10 of 11 higher-level groups are monophyletic) but violated when Neotropical species are included in the dataset (1 of 11 higher-level groups are monophyletic). Leveraging the largest phylogeny of the Psocidae, our study pinpoints the downfalls of simply extending taxonomic knowledge from lineages of a certain area to inform diversity and evolution of lineages in other regions. HighlightsO_LITropical psocids comprise >60% of the extant family richness C_LIO_LIPrevious phylogenies have undersampled Tropical psocids C_LIO_LIHolarctic and Neotropical species are classified under the same morphological groups C_LIO_LIHolarctic and Neotropical generally correspond to evolutionarily distinct lineages C_LIO_LIPhylogenies based on Holarctic psocids poorly inform evolution in the Neotropics C_LI

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Evolutionary time explains the global distribution of freshwater fish diversity

AimThe evolutionary causes of the latitudinal diversity gradient are debated. Hypotheses have ultimately invoked either faster rates of diversification in the tropics, or more time for diversification due to the tropical origins of higher taxa. Here we perform the first test of the diversification rate and time hypotheses in freshwater ray-finned fishes, a group comprising nearly a quarter of all living vertebrates. LocationGlobal. Time period368-0 mya. Major taxa studiedExtant freshwater ray-finned fishes. MethodsUsing a mega-phylogeny of actinopterygian fishes and a global database of occurrence records, we estimated net diversification rates, the number of colonizations and regional colonization times of co-occurring species in freshwater drainage basins. We used Generalized Additive Models to test whether these factors were related to latitude. We then compared the influence of diversification rates, colonization numbers, colonization times and surface area on species richness, and how these factors are related to each other. ResultsWhile both diversification rates and time were related to richness, time had greater explanatory power and was more strongly related to latitude than diversification rates. Other factors (basin surface area, number of colonizations) also helped explain richness but were unrelated to latitude. The worlds most diverse freshwater basins (Amazon, Congo rivers) were dominated by lineages with Mesozoic origins. The temperate groups dominant today arrived near the K-Pg boundary, leaving comparatively less time to build richness. Diversification rates and colonization times were inversely related: recently colonized basins had the fastest rates, while ancient species-rich faunas had slower rates. Main conclusionsWe concluded that time is the lead driver of latitudinal richness disparities in freshwater fish faunas. We suggest that the most likely path to building very high species richness is through diversification over long periods of time, rather than diversifying quickly.

evolutionary biology↗