INTEGRATING PHYLOGENETICS AND NICHE MODELING TO ELUCIDATE THE DIVERSIFICATION PROCESSES IN SOUTH AMERICAN GRASSHOPPERS (ACRIDIDAE: MELANOPLINAE)

CIGLIANO, M. M.; CONFALONIERI, V.A.; SCATTOLINI, M.C.

Ilheus

Congreso; 12th International Congress of Orthopterology; 2016

The Orthopterists Society

NTEGRATING phylogenetic hypotheses withgeographic and ecological data has revealednew insights on the factors that influence theevolution and distribution of species. Thespatial and temporal distribution of a species isshaped by its fundamental niche, whichdetermines the potential distribution.Incorporating environmental and ecologicaldata in a phylogenetic context allows theidentification of phylogenetic signals in nichedimensions. These analyses provide a measureof niche similarity between related species,which can be used to build hypotheses on nicheand range evolution and help to elucidateradiation mechanisms. Most attempts to inferdiversification processes have comparedgeographic ranges in relation to phylogenieswithout considering the environmental spaceoccupied. Inclusion of an environmentaldimension in these analyses can allow us toassess whether ecologically mediated divergentselection is associated with speciation. Thegrasshopper genus Scotussa together with theremaining taxa of the Scotussae group aremostly distributed in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguayand Argentina occurring in the Chacoan andParana dominions of South America.Contrary to the general pattern observedwithin the tribe Dichroplini, Scotussa speciesare highly variable in the structure of theirovipositor valves. Besides, it has been shown anassociation between the structural changesthat occurred in the ovipositor of species ofScotussa with their oviposition habits.However, it was never tested if this associationwas related to the diversification processesoccurred within the genus. In this study, weanalyze the phylogenetic relationships amongspecies of Scotussa adding new molecular dataand use environmental variables to (1) predictthe potential distribution of each species (2)quantify geographical and environmental nicheoverlap among species, and (3) analyze nicheevolution combining phylogenetic informationand georeferenced occurrence records in orderto investigate the diversification of the species.