Co-occurrence of ecologically similar species of Hawaiian spiders reveals critical early phase of adaptive radiation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The processes through which populations originate and diversify ecologically in the initial stages of adaptive radiation are little understood because we lack information on critical steps of early divergence. A key question is, at what point do closely related species interact, setting the stage for competition and ecological specialization? The Hawaiian Islands provide an ideal system to explore the early stages of adaptive radiation because the islands span ages from 0.5-5 Mya. Hawaiian spiders in the genus Tetragnatha have undergone adaptive radiation, with one lineage ("spiny legs") showing four different ecomorphs (green, maroon, large brown, small brown); one representative of each ecomorph is generally found at any site on the older islands. Given that the early

SUBMITTER: Cotoras DD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6009049 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature