Quick divergence but slow convergence during ecotype formation in lake and stream stickleback pairs of variable age ...
When genetic constraints restrict phenotypic evolution, diversification can be predicted to evolve along so-called lines of least resistance. To address the importance of such constraints and their resolution, studies of parallel phenotypic divergence that differ in their age are valuable. Here, we...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2014
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.70368 http://boris.unibe.ch/70368/ |
Summary: | When genetic constraints restrict phenotypic evolution, diversification can be predicted to evolve along so-called lines of least resistance. To address the importance of such constraints and their resolution, studies of parallel phenotypic divergence that differ in their age are valuable. Here, we investigate the parapatric evolution of six lake and stream threespine stickleback systems from Iceland and Switzerland, ranging in age from a few decades to several millennia. Using phenotypic data, we test for parallelism in ecotypic divergence between parapatric lake and stream populations and compare the observed patterns to an ancestral-like marine population. We find strong and consistent phenotypic divergence, both among lake and stream populations and between our freshwater populations and the marine population. Interestingly, ecotypic divergence in low-dimensional phenotype space (i.e. single traits) is rapid and seems to be often completed within 100 years. Yet, the dimensionality of ecotypic divergence ... |
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