Authors: El Mahdi Bendif, Bruno Nevado, Edgar L. Y. Wong, Kyoko Hagino, Ian Probert, Jeremy R. Young, Rosalind E. M. Rickaby, Dmitry A. Filatov
Published: 2019-09-17
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12169-7
Source: Full article
AbstractPhytoplankton account for nearly half of global primary productivity and strongly affect the global carbon cycle, yet little is known about the forces that drive the evolution of these keystone microscopic organisms. Here we combine morphometric data from the fossil record of the ubiquitous coccolithophore genusGephyrocapsawith genomic analyses of extant species to assess the genetic processes underlying Pleistocene palaeontological patterns. We demonstrate that all modern diversity inGephyrocapsa(includingEmiliania huxleyi) originated in a rapid species radiation during the last 0.6 Ma, coincident with the latest of the three pulses ofGephyrocapsadiversification and extinction documented in the fossil record. Our evolutionary genetic analyses indicate that new species in this genus have formed in sympatry or parapatry, with occasional hybridisation between species. This sheds light on the mode of speciation during evolutionary radiation of marine phytoplankton and provides a model of how new plankton species form.