Hostplant change and paleoclimatic events explain diversification shifts in skipper butterflies (Family: Hesperiidae).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Skippers (Family: Hesperiidae) are a large group of butterflies with ca. 4000 species under 567 genera. The lack of a time-calibrated higher-level phylogeny of the group has precluded understanding of its evolutionary past. We here use a 10-gene dataset to reconstruct the most comprehensive time-calibrated phylogeny of the group, and explore factors that affected the diversification of these butterflies.

Results

Ancestral state reconstructions show that the early hesperiid lineages utilized dicots as larval hostplants. The ability to feed on monocots evolved once at the K-Pg boundary (ca. 65 million years ago (Mya)), and allowed monocot-feeders to diversify much faster on average than dicot-feeders. The increased diversification rate of the monocot-feeding clade i

SUBMITTER: Sahoo RK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5541431 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature