According to the genic view, species are characterized by the genes that underlie functional divergence. Here, we take a phylogenomic approach to assess this view at the scale of a whole radiation. The hamlets (Hypoplectrus spp.) represent a recent radiation of reef fishes from the Greater Caribbean that are reproductively isolated through assortative mating. A total of 335 genomes from 15 locations revealed a single well-supported phylogenetic split among species, with a large share of the radiation unresolved. The polytomic nature of the hamlet radiation is extreme compared to other recent radiations such as Lake Victoria cichlids. At the gene-tree level, we identified just one genomic region, centered around the casz1 transcription factor, with a topology that reflects species differences. These results show that phenotypic diversification and reproductive isolation—two major attributes of species—may unfold in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal, both genome-wide and at the gene-tree level.
Helmkampf M., Coulmance F., Heckwolf M.J., Acero P. A., Balard A., Bista I., Dominguez O.D., Frandsen P.B., Torres-Oliva M., Santaquiteria A., Tavera J., Victor B.C., Robertson D.R., Betancur-R. R., McMillan W.O. and Puebla O. (2025) Radiation with reproductive isolation in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal. Science Advances 11(30). 10.1126/sciadv.adt0973
@article{Helmkampf2025,
Title = {Radiation with reproductive isolation in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal},
Author = {Helmkampf, Martin and Coulmance, Floriane and Heckwolf, Melanie J. and Acero P., Arturo and Balard, Alice and Bista, Iliana and Dominguez, Omar Dominguez and Frandsen, Paul B. and Torres-Oliva, Montserrat and Santaquiteria, Aintzane and Tavera, Jose and Victor, Benjamin C. and Robertson, D. Ross and Betancur-R., Ricardo and McMillan, W. Owen and Puebla, Oscar},
Editor = {},
Journal = {Science Advances},
Year = {2025},
Volume = {11},
Doi = {10.1126/sciadv.adt0973},
Abstract = {According to the genic view, species are characterized by the genes that underlie functional divergence. Here, we take a phylogenomic approach to assess this view at the scale of a whole radiation. The hamlets (Hypoplectrus spp.) represent a recent radiation of reef fishes from the Greater Caribbean that are reproductively isolated through assortative mating. A total of 335 genomes from 15 locations revealed a single well-supported phylogenetic split among species, with a large share of the radiation unresolved. The polytomic nature of the hamlet radiation is extreme compared to other recent radiations such as Lake Victoria cichlids. At the gene-tree level, we identified just one genomic region, centered around the casz1 transcription factor, with a topology that reflects species differences. These results show that phenotypic diversification and reproductive isolation—two major attributes of species—may unfold in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal, both genome-wide and at the gene-tree level.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Helmkampf, Martin
AU - Coulmance, Floriane
AU - Heckwolf, Melanie J.
AU - Acero P., Arturo
AU - Balard, Alice
AU - Bista, Iliana
AU - Dominguez, Omar Dominguez
AU - Frandsen, Paul B.
AU - Torres-Oliva, Montserrat
AU - Santaquiteria, Aintzane
AU - Tavera, Jose
AU - Victor, Benjamin C.
AU - Robertson, D. Ross
AU - Betancur-R., Ricardo
AU - McMillan, W. Owen
AU - Puebla, Oscar
TI - Radiation with reproductive isolation in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal
T2 - Science Advances
PY - 2025
VL - 11
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.adt0973
AB - According to the genic view, species are characterized by the genes that underlie functional divergence. Here, we take a phylogenomic approach to assess this view at the scale of a whole radiation. The hamlets (Hypoplectrus spp.) represent a recent radiation of reef fishes from the Greater Caribbean that are reproductively isolated through assortative mating. A total of 335 genomes from 15 locations revealed a single well-supported phylogenetic split among species, with a large share of the radiation unresolved. The polytomic nature of the hamlet radiation is extreme compared to other recent radiations such as Lake Victoria cichlids. At the gene-tree level, we identified just one genomic region, centered around the casz1 transcription factor, with a topology that reflects species differences. These results show that phenotypic diversification and reproductive isolation—two major attributes of species—may unfold in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal, both genome-wide and at the gene-tree level.
ER -
