Evolutionary transition from surface to subterranean living in Australian water beetles (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae) through adaptive and relaxed selection

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dc.contributor.authorZhao, Y.
dc.contributor.authorGuzik, M.
dc.contributor.authorHumphreys, W.
dc.contributor.authorWatts, C.
dc.contributor.authorCooper, S.
dc.contributor.authorSherratt, E.
dc.date.issued2024
dc.descriptionAdvance access publication 19 October 2023
dc.description.abstractOver the last 5 million years, numerous species of Australian stygobiotic (subterranean and aquatic) beetles have evolved underground following independent colonisation of aquifers by surface ancestors, providing a set of repeated evolutionary transitions from surface to subterranean life. We used this system as an ‘evolutionary experiment’ to investigate whether relaxed selection has provided a source of variability for adaptive radiations into ecosystems containing open niches and whether this variability underpins phenotypic evolution in cave animals. Linear and landmark-based measurements were used to quantify the morphology of subterranean species from different aquifers, compared to interstitial and closely related aquatic surface species. Subterranean dytiscids were observed to be morphologically distinct, suggesting they have a different lifestyle compared to their surface relatives. However, the variation in the measured traits was much greater in the subterranean species, and unstructured, showing no evidence of clustering that would indicate adaptation to specific niches. Furthermore, a previously identified pattern of repeated non-overlapping size variation in beetles across aquifers was not correlated with repeated body shape evolution. The observed variability across body shape and limb traits provides support for the hypothesis that relaxed selection and neutral evolution underlie the phenotypic evolution in these species.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityYuxuan Zhao, Michelle T. Guzik, William F. Humphreys, Christopher H.S. Watts, Steven J.B. Cooper, Emma Sherratt
dc.identifier.citationBiological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2024; 142(3):280-293
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/biolinnean/blad142
dc.identifier.issn0024-4066
dc.identifier.issn1095-8312
dc.identifier.orcidZhao, Y. [0009-0009-5491-0775]
dc.identifier.orcidCooper, S. [0000-0002-7843-8438]
dc.identifier.orcidSherratt, E. [0000-0003-2164-7877]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/139907
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherOxford University Press (OUP)
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180103851
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP230100731
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT190100803
dc.rights© 2023 The Linnean Society of London. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blad142
dc.titleEvolutionary transition from surface to subterranean living in Australian water beetles (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae) through adaptive and relaxed selection
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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