The evolution of sexual and parthenogenetic Warramaba: a window onto Plio-Pleistocene diversification processes in an arid biome

Abstract

Environmental changes over the Plio-Pleistocene have been key drivers of speciation patterns and genetic diversification in high-latitude and mesic environments, yet comparatively little is known about the evolutionary history of species in arid environments. We applied phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses to understand the evolutionary history of Warramaba grasshoppers from the Australian arid zone, a group including sexual and parthenogenetic lineages. Sequence data (mitochondrial COI) showed that the four major sexual lineages within Warramaba most likely diverged in the Pliocene, around 2-7 million years ago. All sexual lineages exhibited considerable phylogenetic structure. Detaile..