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Dryad

Data from: Multiple origins of sexual dichromatism and aposematism within large carpenter bees

Cite this dataset

Blaimer, Bonnie B.; Mawdsley, Jonathan R.; Brady, Seán G. (2018). Data from: Multiple origins of sexual dichromatism and aposematism within large carpenter bees [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j68v33v

Abstract

The evolution of reversed sexual dichromatism and aposematic coloration have long been of interest to both theoreticians and empiricists. Yet despite the potential connections between these phenomena, they have seldom been jointly studied. Large carpenter bees (genus Xylocopa) are a promising group for such comparative investigations as they are a diverse clade in which both aposematism and reversed sexual dichromatism can occur either together or separately. We investigated the evolutionary history of dichromatism and aposematism and a potential correlation of these traits with diversification rates within Xylocopa, using a newly-generated phylogeny for 179 Xylocopa species based on ultraconserved elements (UCEs). A monochromatic, inconspicuous ancestor is indicated for the genus, with subsequent convergent evolution of sexual dichromatism and aposematism in multiple lineages. Aposematism is found to co-vary with reversed sexual dichromatism in many species; however, reversed dichromatism also evolved in non-aposematic species. Bayesian Analysis of Macroevolutionary Models (BAMM) did not show increased diversification in any specific clade in Xylocopa, whereas support from Hidden State Speciation and Extinction (HiSSE) models remained inconclusive regarding an association of increased diversification rates with dichromatism or aposematism. We discuss the evolution of color patterns and diversification in Xylocopa by considering potential drivers of dichromatism and aposematism.

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Funding

National Science Foundation, Award: DEB-1555905