Environmental temperatures shape thermal physiology as well as diversification and genome-wide substitution rates in lizards

WOS: 000484779500005
PubMed ID: 31501432
Climatic conditions changing over time and space shape the evolution of organisms at multiple levels, including temperate lizards in the family Lacertidae. Here we reconstruct a dated phylogenetic tree of 262 lacertid species based on a supermatrix relying on novel phylogenomic datasets and fossil calibrations. Diversification of lacertids was accompanied by an increasing disparity among occupied bioclimatic niches, especially in the last 10 Ma, during a period of progressive global cooling. Temperate species also underwent a genomewide slowdown in molecular substitution rates compared to tropical and desert-adapted lacertids. Evaporative water loss and preferred temperature are correlated with bioclimatic parameters, indicating physiological adaptations to climate. Tropical, but also some populations of cool-adapted species experience maximum temperatures close to their preferred temperatures. We hypothesize these species-specific physiological preferences may constitute a handicap to prevail under rapid global warming, and contribute to explaining local lizard extinctions in cool and humid climates.
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)German Research Foundation (DFG) [VE 247/11-1/MU 1760/9-1, VE 247/16-1-HO3492/6-1]; Juan de la Cierva fellowships from the Spanish 'Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad' [FJCI-2014-20380, IJCI-2016-29566]; 'Rita Levi Montalcini' program for recruitment of young researchers at the University of L'Aquila; US-National Science Foundation Emerging Frontiers program [EF-1241848]; Hassan II Academy of Sciences and Technologies (ICGVSA Project); Slovenian Research Agency Research Program [P1-0255]; Uppsala Multidisciplinary Center for Advanced Computational Science (UPPMAX) [SNIC 2017/7-275]; [NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000007]; [ON173025 MESTD RS]
We are grateful to numerous students, field assistants and technicians who supported field and laboratory work, and to G. Jones for useful comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) to M.V. and J.M. (VE 247/11-1/MU 1760/9-1), and to L.R. in the framework of the "TaxonOmics" priority program (VE 247/16-1-HO3492/6-1). J.G.-P. and I. I. were supported by Juan de la Cierva fellowships from the Spanish 'Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad' (FJCI-2014-20380 and IJCI-2016-29566), D.S. by the 'Rita Levi Montalcini' program for recruitment of young researchers at the University of L'Aquila, M.A.C. by project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000007, B.S. and D.B.M. by the US-National Science Foundation Emerging Frontiers program (EF-1241848), J.C.I. by project ON173025 MESTD RS, T.S., A.F., and A.S. by the Hassan II Academy of Sciences and Technologies (ICGVSA Project), A.Z. by the Slovenian Research Agency Research Program P1-0255. The computations were in part performed on the Altamira supercomputer at the Institute of Physics of Cantabria (IFCA-CSIC), Spain; the Uppsala Multidisciplinary Center for Advanced Computational Science (UPPMAX) under Project SNIC 2017/7-275; as well as the Zentraler Informations-und Datenverarbeitungsservice of the Tierarztliche Hochschule Hannover (IDS-TiHo). Further, we acknowledge the Viper High Performance Computing facility of the University of Hull and its support team, especially Ahmed Elnawasany, for facilitating computational analyses.