Skip to main content
Dryad

Data from: Independent homoploid hybrid speciation events in the Macaronesian endemic genus Argyranthemum

Cite this dataset

White, Oliver W.; Reyes-Betancort, Alfredo; Chapman, Mark A.; Carine, Mark A. (2018). Data from: Independent homoploid hybrid speciation events in the Macaronesian endemic genus Argyranthemum [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q4d2v6h

Abstract

Well-characterised examples of homoploid hybrid speciation (HHS) are rare in nature yet they offer the potential to study a number of evolutionary processes. In this study we investigate putative homoploid hybrid species in the genus Argyranthemum (Asteraceae), a group of plants endemic to the Macaronesian archipelagos of the North Atlantic Ocean. We specifically address a number of knowledge gaps surrounding the origin(s) of A. sundingii and A. lemsii, which are thought to be derived from the same parental cross. Comparisons of leaf morphology suggest that A. sundingii and A. lemsii are distinct from their parental progenitors and distinguishable from each other based on leaf area. Ecological niche modelling (ENM) demonstrated that the homoploid hybrid species occupy novel habitats that are intermediate relative to the parental species. Nuclear SSRs and SNP data indicate that the homoploid hybrid species are distinct from the parental taxa, whilst population level sampling of chloroplast SSRs and Approximate Bayesian Computation show that A. sundingii and A. lemsii are independently derived from the same parental cross. As such, Argyranthemum represents an example of independent homoploid hybrid speciation events with evidence of divergence in leaf morphology and adaptation to novel intermediate habitats. On oceanic islands, which are often typified by steep ecological gradients and inhabited by recently derived species with weak reproductive barriers, multiple HHS events from the same parental cross are not only possible but are likely to have played a more important role in oceanic island radiations than we currently think.

Usage notes

Location

Macaronesia
Canary Islands
Tenerife