Phylogeny and Palaeoecology of Polyommatus Blue Butterflies Show Beringia Was a Climate-Regulated Gateway to the New World.
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Phylogeny and Palaeoecology of Polyommatus Blue Butterflies Show Beringia Was a Climate-Regulated Gateway to the New World.
| Title: | Phylogeny and Palaeoecology of Polyommatus Blue Butterflies Show Beringia Was a Climate-Regulated Gateway to the New World. |
| Author: |
Pierce, Naomi Ellen; Vila, Roger; Bell, Charles D.; Macniven, Richard; Goldman-Huertas, Benjamin; Ree, Richard R.; Marshall, Charles R.; Balint, Zsolt; Johnson, Kurt; Benyamini, Dubi
Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors. |
| Citation: | Vila, Roger, Charles D. Bell, Richard Macniven, Benjamin Goldman-Huertas, Richard H. Ree, Charles R. Marshall, Szolt Balint, Kurt Johnson, Dubi Benyamini, and Naomi Pierce. 2011. Phylogeny and palaeoecology of Polyommatus blue butterflies show Beringia was a climate-regulated gateway to the New World. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B 278. |
| Full Text & Related Files: |
Vila_Phylogeny.pdf (2.788Mb; PDF) 
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| Abstract: | Transcontinental dispersals by organisms usually represent improbable events that constitute a major challenge for biogeographers. By integrating molecular phylogeny, historical biogeography and palaeoecology, we test a bold hypothesis proposed by Vladimir Nabokov regarding the origin of Neotropical Polyommatus blue butterflies, and show that Beringia has served as a biological corridor for the dispersal of these insects from Asia into the New World. We present a novel method to estimate ancestral temperature tolerances using distribution range limits of extant organisms, and find that climatic conditions in Beringia acted as a decisive filter in determining which taxa crossed into the New World during five separate invasions over the past 11Myr. Our results reveal a marked effect of the Miocene–Pleistocene global cooling, and demonstrate that palaeoclimatic conditions left a strong signal on the ecology of present-day taxa in the New World. The phylogenetic conservatism in thermal tolerances that we have identified may permit the reconstruction of the palaeoecology of ancestral organisms, especially mobile taxa that can easily escape from hostile environments rather than adapt to them. |
| Published Version: | doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2213 |
| Terms of Use: | This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#OAP |
| Citable link to this page: | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4687842 |
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