@article{fdi:010088192,
  title = {{B}iogeography and evolution of social parasitism in {A}ustralian {M}yrmecia bulldog ants revealed by phylogenomics},
  author = {{M}era-{R}odriguez, {D}. and {J}ourdan, {H}erv{\'e} and {W}ard, {P}. {S}. and {S}hattuck, {S}. and {C}over, {S}. {P}. and {W}ilson, {E}. {O}. and {R}abeling, {C}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{S}tudying the historical biogeography and life history transitions from eusocial colony life to social parasitism contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms generating biodiversity in eusocial insects. {T}he ants in the genus {M}yrmecia are a well-suited system for testing evolutionary hypotheses about how their species diversity was assembled through time because the genus is endemic to {A}ustralia with the single exception of the species {M}. apicalis inhabiting the {P}acific {I}sland of {N}ew {C}aledonia, and because at least one social parasite species exists in the genus. {H}owever, the evolutionary mechanisms underlying the disjunct biogeographic distribution of {M}. apicalis and the life history transition(s) to social parasitism remain unexplored. {T}o study the biogeographic origin of the isolated, oceanic species {M}. apicalis and to reveal the origin and evolution of social parasitism in the genus, we reconstructed a comprehensive phylogeny of the ant subfamily {M}yrmeciinae. {W}e utilized {U}ltra {C}onserved {E}lements ({UCE}s) as molecular markers to generate a molecular genetic dataset consisting of 2,287 loci per taxon on average for 66 out of the 93 known {M}yrmecia species as well as for the sister lineage {N}othomyrmecia macrops and selected outgroups. {O}ur time-calibrated phylogeny inferred that: (i) stem {M}yrmeciinae originated during the {P}aleocene -58 {M}a ago; (ii) the current disjunct biogeographic distribution of {M}. apicalis was driven by long-distance dispersal from {A}ustralia to {N}ew {C}aledonia during the {M}iocene -14 {M}a ago; (iii) the single social parasite species, {M}. inquilina, evolved directly from one of the two known host species, {M}. nigriceps, in sympatry via the intraspecific route of social parasite evolution; and (iv) 5 of the 9 previously established taxonomic species groups are non-monophyletic. {W}e suggest minor changes to reconcile the molecular phylo-genetic results with the taxonomic classification. {O}ur study enhances our understanding of the evolution and biogeography of {A}ustralian bulldog ants, contributes to our knowledge about the evolution of social parasitism in ants, and provides a solid phylogenetic foundation for future inquiries into the biology, taxonomy, and classi-fication of {M}yrmeciinae.},
  keywords = {{D}isjunct biogeography ; {F}ormicidae ; {I}ncomplete lineage sorting ; {I}nquiline ; social parasitism ; {L}ong -distance dispersal ; {S}peciation ; {NOUVELLE} {CALEDONIE} ; {AUSTRALIE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{M}olecular {P}hylogenetics and {E}volution},
  volume = {186},
  numero = {},
  pages = {107825 [18 ]},
  ISSN = {1055-7903},
  year = {2023},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107825},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010088192},
}