Publication Type
Journal Article
Journal Name
Nature Communications
Publication Date
12-1-2018
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 environmental proxies in diversification analyses to disentangle the relative impacts of biotic and abiotic drivers of macroevolutionary dynamics.
Disciplines
Entomology | Environmental Sciences
PubMed ID
30504767
Recommended Citation
Kergoat, G., Condamine, F., Toussaint, E., Capdevielle-Dulac, C., Clamens, A., Barbut, J., Goldstein, P., & Le Ru, B. (2018). Opposite macroevolutionary responses to environmental changes in grasses and insects during the Neogene grassland expansion. Nature Communications, 9 (1) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07537-8