The tempo and mode of New World monkey evolution and biogeography in the context of phylogenomic analysis

• Published in: Molecular phylogenetics and evolution 2015-01, Vol.82, p.386-399
• Main Authors: Jameson Kiesling, Natalie M., Yi, Soojin V., Xu, Ke, Gianluca Sperone, F., Wildman, Derek E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amazonia; Animals; Bayes Theorem; Biological Evolution; Likelihood Functions; Models, Genetic; Neotropical primates; Neotropics; Phylogeny; Platyrrhine; Platyrrhini - classification; Platyrrhini - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; South America
• ISSN: 1055-7903; 1095-9513
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.03.027

[Display omitted] •Non-genic sequences provide strong phylogenetic signal in cases of rapid radiations.•Diversification of NWMs was concurrent with the establishment of the Amazon rainforest.•Waterways are not barriers to platyrrhine dispersal throughout the Neotropics.•An Asian origin and trans-Pacific migration of proto-platyrrhines is suggested. The development and evolution of organisms is heavily influenced by their environment. Thus, understanding the historical biogeography of taxa can provide insights into their evolutionary history, adaptations and trade-offs realized throughout time. In the present study we have taken a phylogenomic approach to infer New World monkey phylogeny, upon which we have reconstructed the biogeographic history of extant platyrrhines. In order to generate sufficient phylogenetic signal within the New World monkey clade, we carried out a large-scale phylogenetic analysis of approximately 40kb of non-genic genomic DNA sequence in a 36 species subset of extant New World monkeys. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analysis all converged on a single optimal tree topology. Divergence dating and biogeographic analysis reconstruct the timing and geographic location of divergence events. The ancestral area reconstruction describes the geographic locations of the last common ancestor of extant platyrrhines and provides insight into key biogeographic events occurring during platyrrhine diversification. Through these analyses we conclude that the diversification of the platyrrhines took place concurrently with the establishment and diversification of the Amazon rainforest. This suggests that an expanding rainforest environment rather than geographic isolation drove platyrrhine diversification.