Opposite macroevolutionary responses to environmental changes in grasses and insects during the Neogene grassland expansion.

ABSTRACT: The rise of Neogene C₄ grasslands is one of the most drastic changes recently experienced by the biosphere. A central - and widely debated - hypothesis posits that Neogene grasslands acted as a major adaptive zone for herbivore lineages. We test this hypothesis with a novel model system, the Sesamiina stemborer moths and their associated host-grasses. Using a comparative phylogenetic framework integrating paleoenvironmental proxies we recover a negative correlation between the evolutionary trajectories of insects and plants. Our results show that paleoenvironmental changes generated opposing macroevolutionary dynamics in this insect-plant system and call into question the role of grasslands as a universal adaptive cradle. This study illustrates the importance of implementing env

SUBMITTER: Kergoat GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6269479 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature