Patterns of genetic divergence and demographic history shed light on island-mainland population dynamics and melanic plumage evolution in the white-winged Fairywren

Patterns of genetic divergence and demographic history shed light on island-mainland population dynamics and melanic plumage evolution in the white-winged Fairywren

The existence of distinct traits in island versus mainland populations offers opportunities to gain insights into how eco-evolutionary processes operate under natural conditions. We used two island colonization events in the white-winged fairywren (Malurus leucopterus) to investigate the genomic and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Evolution Vol. 75; no. 6; pp. 1348 - 1360
Main Authors: Walsh, Jennifer, Campagna, Leonardo, Feeney, William E., King, Jacinta, Webster, Michael S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Wiley 01-06-2021
Oxford University Press
Subjects:
Colonization
Demographic history
Demographics
Divergence
Evolution
Gene flow
genetic structure
island melanism
island syndrome
Males
Malurus leucopterus
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Plumage
plumage coloration
Population dynamics
Populations
Malurus leucopterus
Demographic history
genetic structure
island melanism
island syndrome
plumage coloration
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Summary:The existence of distinct traits in island versus mainland populations offers opportunities to gain insights into how eco-evolutionary processes operate under natural conditions. We used two island colonization events in the white-winged fairywren (Malurus leucopterus) to investigate the genomic and demographic origin of melanic plumage. This avian species is distributed across most of Australia, and males of the mainland subspecies (M. l. leuconotus) exhibit a blue nuptial plumage in contrast to males of two island subspecies–M. l. leucopterus on Dirk Hartog Island and M. l. edouardi on Barrow Island–that exhibit a black nuptial plumage. We used reduced-representation sequencing to explore differentiation and demographic history in this species and found clear patterns of divergence between mainland and island populations, with additional substructuring on the mainland. Divergence between the mainland and Dirk Hartog was approximately 10 times more recent than the split between the mainland and Barrow Island, supporting two independent colonizations. In both cases, estimated gene flow between the mainland and the islands was low, contributing to signals of divergence among subspecies. Our results present demographic reconstructions of mainland-island dynamics and associated plumage variation in white-winged fairywrens, with broader implications regarding our understanding of convergent evolution in insular populations.
Bibliography:https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14242
This article corresponds to A. Robert, V. Peona, and J. Ottenburghs. 2021. Digest: Population genomics reveals convergence toward melanism in different island populations. Evolution.
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ISSN:0014-3820
1558-5646
DOI:10.1111/evo.14185