Conserved ancestral tropical niche but different continental histories explain the latitudinal diversity gradient in brush-footed butterflies

Nicolas Chazot (), Fabien L. Condamine, Gytis Dudas, Carlos Peña, Ullasa Kodandaramaiah, Pável Matos-Maraví, Kwaku Aduse-Poku, Marianne Elias, Andrew D. Warren, David J. Lohman, Carla M. Penz, Phil DeVries, Zdenek F. Fric, Soren Nylin, Chris Müller, Akito Y. Kawahara, Karina L. Silva-Brandão, Gerardo Lamas, Irena Kleckova, Anna Zubek, Elena Ortiz-Acevedo, Roger Vila, Richard I. Vane-Wright, Sean P. Mullen, Chris D. Jiggins, Christopher W. Wheat, Andre V. L. Freitas and Niklas Wahlberg
Additional contact information
Nicolas Chazot: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Fabien L. Condamine: CNRS, UMR 5554 Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (Université de Montpellier|CNRS|IRD|EPHE)
Gytis Dudas: Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre
Carlos Peña: Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Ullasa Kodandaramaiah: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram
Pável Matos-Maraví: Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre
Kwaku Aduse-Poku: Department of Life and Earth Sciences, Perimeter College, Georgia State University
Marianne Elias: ISYEB, CNRS, MNHN, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles
Andrew D. Warren: McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
David J. Lohman: City College of New York and Graduate Center, CUNY
Carla M. Penz: University of New Orleans
Phil DeVries: University of New Orleans
Zdenek F. Fric: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology
Soren Nylin: Stockholm University
Chris Müller: Australian Museum
Akito Y. Kawahara: McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
Karina L. Silva-Brandão: Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética
Gerardo Lamas: Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Irena Kleckova: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology
Anna Zubek: Nature Education Centre, Jagiellonian University
Elena Ortiz-Acevedo: McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
Roger Vila: Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC‐UPF)
Richard I. Vane-Wright: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum
Sean P. Mullen: 5 Cummington Street, Department of Biology, Boston University
Chris D. Jiggins: University of Cambridge
Christopher W. Wheat: Stockholm University
Andre V. L. Freitas: Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
Niklas Wahlberg: Lund University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The global increase in species richness toward the tropics across continents and taxonomic groups, referred to as the latitudinal diversity gradient, stimulated the formulation of many hypotheses to explain the underlying mechanisms of this pattern. We evaluate several of these hypotheses to explain spatial diversity patterns in a butterfly family, the Nymphalidae, by assessing the contributions of speciation, extinction, and dispersal, and also the extent to which these processes differ among regions at the same latitude. We generate a time-calibrated phylogeny containing 2,866 nymphalid species (~45% of extant diversity). Neither speciation nor extinction rate variations consistently explain the latitudinal diversity gradient among regions because temporal diversification dynamics differ greatly across longitude. The Neotropical diversity results from low extinction rates, not high speciation rates, and biotic interchanges with other regions are rare. Southeast Asia is also characterized by a low speciation rate but, unlike the Neotropics, is the main source of dispersal events through time. Our results suggest that global climate change throughout the Cenozoic, combined with tropical niche conservatism, played a major role in generating the modern latitudinal diversity gradient of nymphalid butterflies.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25906-8

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