title: Hybrid speciation and independent evolution in lineages of alpine butterflies.
abstract: The power of hybridization between species to generate variation and fuel adaptation is poorly understood despite long-standing interest. There is, however, increasing evidence that hybridization often generates biodiversity, including via hybrid speciation. We tested the hypothesis of hybrid speciation in butterflies occupying extreme, high-altitude habitats in four mountain ranges in western North America with an explicit, probabilistic model, and genome-wide DNA sequence data. Using this approach, in concert with ecological experiments and observations and morphological data, we document three lineages of hybrid origin. These lineages have different genome admixture proportions and distinctive trait combinations that suggest unique and independent evolutionary histories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Population and Conservation Biology Program, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas 78666, USA. ccnice@txstate.edu
authors.forename: Chris C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Nice
authors.forename: Zachariah
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gompert
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fordyce
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Forister
authors.forename: Lauren K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: C Alex
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Buerkle
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D002080:Butterflies / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D002678:Chimera; D017753:Ecosystem; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D049750:Genome, Insect; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA