How to translate text using browser tools
1 February 2009 PHYLOGENETIC EVIDENCE FOR COMPETITIVELY DRIVEN DIVERGENCE: BODY-SIZE EVOLUTION IN CARIBBEAN TREEFROGS (HYLIDAE: OSTEOPILUS)
Daniel S. Moen, John J. Wiens
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Understanding the role of competition in explaining phenotypic diversity is a challenging problem, given that the most divergent species may no longer compete today. However, convergent evolution of extreme body sizes across communities may offer evidence of past competition. For example, many treefrog assemblages around the world have convergently evolved species with very large and small body sizes. To better understand this global pattern, we studied body-size diversification within the small, endemic radiation of Caribbean treefrogs (Osteopilus). We introduce a suite of analyses designed to help reveal the signature of past competition. Diet analyses show that Osteopilus are generalist predators and that prey size is strongly associated with body size, suggesting that body-size divergence facilitates resource partitioning. Community assembly models indicate that treefrog body-size distributions in Jamaica and Hispaniola are consistent with expectations from competition. Phylogenetic analyses show that similar body-size extremes in Jamaica and Hispaniola have originated through parallel evolution on each island, and the rate of body-size evolution in Osteopilus is accelerated relative to mainland treefrogs. Together, these results suggest that competition may have driven the rapid diversification of body sizes in Caribbean treefrogs to the extremes seen in treefrog communities around the world.

© 2009 The Society for the Study of Evolution.
Daniel S. Moen and John J. Wiens "PHYLOGENETIC EVIDENCE FOR COMPETITIVELY DRIVEN DIVERGENCE: BODY-SIZE EVOLUTION IN CARIBBEAN TREEFROGS (HYLIDAE: OSTEOPILUS)," Evolution 63(1), 195-214, (1 February 2009). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00538.x
Received: 11 October 2007; Accepted: 1 August 2008; Published: 1 February 2009
JOURNAL ARTICLE
20 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
body size
Caribbean
community assembly
competition
diversification
phylogenetic analysis
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top