Off-target capture data, endosymbiont genes and morphology reveal a relict lineage that is sister to all other singing cicadas

Chris Simon, Eric R.L. Gordon, M. S. Moulds, Jeffrey A. Cole, Diler Haji, Alan R. Lemmon, Emily Moriarty Lemmon, Michelle Kortyna, Katherine Nazario, Elizabeth J. Wade, Russell C. Meister, Geert Goemans, Stephen M. Chiswell, Pablo Pessacq, Claudio Veloso, John P. McCutcheon, Piotr Łukasik

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Phylogenetic asymmetry is common throughout the tree of life and results from contrasting patterns of speciation and extinction in the paired descendant lineages of ancestral nodes. On the depauperate side of a node, we find extant 'relict' taxa that sit atop long, unbranched lineages. Here, we show that a tiny, pale green, inconspicuous and poorly known cicada in the genus Derotettix, endemic to degraded salt-plain habitats in arid regions of central Argentina, is a relict lineage that is sister to all other modern cicadas. Nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenies of cicadas inferred from probe-based genomic hybrid capture data of both target and non-target loci and a morphological cladogram support this hypothesis. We strengthen this conclusion with genomic data from one of the cicada nutritional bacterial endosymbionts, Sulcia, an ancient and obligate endosymbiont of the larger plant-sucking bugs (Auchenorrhyncha) and an important source of maternally inherited phylogenetic data. We establish Derotettiginae subfam. nov. as a new, monogeneric, fifth cicada subfamily, and compile existing and new data on the distribution, ecology and diet of Derotettix. Our consideration of the palaeoenvironmental literature and host-plant phylogenetics allows us to predict what might have led to the relict status of Derotettix over 100 Myr of habitat change in South America.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)865-886
Number of pages22
JournalBiological Journal of the Linnean Society
Volume128
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Amaranthaceae
  • Argentina
  • Derotettiginae
  • Derotettix
  • South America
  • Sulcia
  • anchored hybrid enrichment
  • hybrid capture bycatch
  • palaeobiology
  • phylogenomics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Off-target capture data, endosymbiont genes and morphology reveal a relict lineage that is sister to all other singing cicadas'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this