title: Multiple evolutionary origins of Australian soil-burrowing cockroaches driven by climate change in the Neogene.
abstract: Parallel evolution is the independent appearance of similar derived phenotypes from similar ancestral forms. It is of key importance in the debate over whether evolution is stochastic and unpredictable, or subject to constraints that limit available phenotypic options. Nevertheless, its occurrence has rarely been demonstrated above the species level. Climate change on the Australian landmass over the last approximately 20 Myr has provided conditions conducive to parallel evolution, as taxa at the edges of shrinking mesic habitats adapted to drier biomes. Here, we investigate the phylogeny and evolution of Australian soil-burrowing and wood-feeding blaberid cockroaches. Soil burrowers (subfamily Geoscapheinae) are found in relatively dry sclerophyllous and scrubland habits, whereas wood feeders (subfamily Panesthiinae) are found in rainforest and wet sclerophyll. We sequenced and analysed mitochondrial and nuclear markers from 142 specimens, and estimated the evolutionary time scale of the two subfamilies. We found evidence for the parallel evolution of soil-burrowing taxa from wood-feeding ancestors on up to nine occasions. These transitions appear to have been driven by periods of aridification during the Miocene and Pliocene across eastern Australia. Our results provide an illuminating example of climate-driven parallel evolution among species.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia nathan.lo@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: K Jun
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Harley A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon Y W
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beninati
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: David L T
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Low
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Liberal Arts, The Open University of Japan, Wakaba 2-11, Mihama-ku, Chiba 261-8586, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science and Engineering, University of Toyama, Gofuku, Toyama 3190, Japan kmaekawa@sci.u-toyama.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kiyoto
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maekawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D005075:Biological Evolution; D057231:Climate Change; D003058:Cockroaches / Q000235:genetics*; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D019476:Insect Proteins
keywords: Bayesian phylogenetics; blaberid; molecular clock; parallel evolution; soil burrowing; wood feeding