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Dryad

Recent population differentiation in the habitat specialist Glossy Antshrike (Aves: Thamnophilidae) across Amazonian seasonally flooded forests: Final SNPs dataset

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Sep 20, 2022 version files 137.57 KB

Abstract

We assessed population structure and the spatio-temporal pattern of diversification in the Glossy Antshrike Sakesphorus luctuosus (Aves, Thamnophilidae) to understand the processes shaping the evolutionary history of Amazonian floodplains and address unresolved taxonomic controversies surrounding its species limits. By targeting ultraconserved elements (UCEs) from 32 specimens of S. luctuosus, we identified independent lineages and estimated their differentiation, divergence times and migration rates. We also estimated current and past demographic histories for each recovered lineage. We found evidence confirming that S. luctuosus consists of a single species, comprising at least four populations, with some highly admixed individuals and overall similar levels of migration between populations. We confirmed the differentiation of the Araguaia River basin population (S. l. araguayae), and gathered circumstantial evidence indicating that the taxon S. hagmanni may represent a highly introgressed population between 3 distinct phylogroups of S. luctuosus. Divergence time estimates between populations seem to be recent, occurring during the last 183 kya. Signs of population expansions were detected for populations attributed to subspecies S. l. luctuosus, but the S. l. araguayae population had probably maintained its effective size through time. Our results support that S. luctuosus has had a complex population history, resulting from a high dependence on southeastern “clear-water” habitats and their availability through time. Spatial and demographic expansions towards the western “white water” flooded forests might still be ongoing. Our study reinforces the view that isolation due to absence of suitable habitat has been an important driver of population differentiation within Amazonian flooded forests, but also that differences between várzeas (“white water” floodplains, mostly in southwestern Amazonia) and igapós (“clear- water” floodplains, especially located in the east) should be further explored as powerful drivers of micro-evolution.