CiteULike CiteULike
Delicious Delicious
Connotea Connotea

Citation for Study 20677

About Citation title: "Cophylogenetics and biogeography reveal a coevolved relationship between sloths and their symbiont algae".
About Study name: "Cophylogenetics and biogeography reveal a coevolved relationship between sloths and their symbiont algae".
About This study is part of submission 20677 (Status: Published).

Citation

Fountain E.D., Pauli J.N., Mendoza J.E., Carlson J., & Peery M. 2017. Cophylogenetics and biogeography reveal a coevolved relationship between sloths and their symbiont algae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, .

Authors

  • Fountain E.D. (submitter)
  • Pauli J.N.
  • Mendoza J.E.
  • Carlson J.
  • Peery M.

Abstract

Specialized species, like arboreal folivores, often develop beneficial relationships with symbionts to exploit ecologically constrained lifestyles. Although coevolution can drive speciation by specialization of a symbiont to a host, a symbiotic relationship is not indicative of coevolution between host and symbiont. We tested for coevolved relationships between highly specialized two- and three-toed sloths (Choloepus spp. and Bradypus spp., respectively) and their symbiotic algae using cophylogenies and phylogeography. Our phylogeographic analysis showed a biogeographic pattern for the sloth distribution that was not found in the algal phylogeny. We found support for congruence between the sloth and algae phylogenies, implying cospeciation, only in the Bradypus lineage. Algae host-switching occurred from Bradypus spp. to Choloepus spp. Our results support a previously hypothesized symbiotic relationship between sloths and the algae in their fur and indicate that coevolution may have played a role in algae diversification. More broadly, convergent evolution may facilitate host switching between deeply diverged host lineages.

Keywords

Bradypus, Choloepus, codivergence, mutualism, co-phylogeny

External links

About this resource

  • Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S20677
  • Other versions: Download Reconstructed NEXUS File Nexus Download NeXML File NeXML
  • Show BibTeX reference
  • Show RIS reference