Arthropod mtDNA paraphyly: a case study of introgressive origin.

Mitochondrial paraphyly between arthropod species is not uncommon, and has been speculated to largely be the result of incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) of ancestral variation within the common ancestor of both species, with hybridisation playing only a minor role. However, in the absence of comparable nuclear genetic data, the relative roles of ILS and hybridisation in explaining mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) paraphyly remain unclear. Hybridisation itself is a multifaceted gateway to paraphyly, which may lead to paraphyly across both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, or paraphyly that is largely restricted to the mitochondrial genome.

Smaller islands, bigger appetites: evolutionary strategies of insular endemic skinks.

Competitive dietary and morphological divergence among co-occurring species are fundamental aspects of ecological communities, particularly on islands. Cabo Verde (~570 km west of continental Africa) hosts several endemic reptiles descended from common ancestors, with sympatric species exhibiting wide morphological variation and competing for limited resources. To explore the mechanisms of resource partitioning between coexisting species, DNA metabarcoding was used to compare the diets of large and small skinks, and , in sympatric and allopatric contexts on Fogo Island and in a more competitive context on the small and resource-poor Cima Islet.

Species delimitation 4.0: integrative taxonomy meets artificial intelligence.

Although species are central units for biological research, recent findings in genomics are raising awareness that what we call species can be ill-founded entities due to solely morphology-based, regional species descriptions. This particularly applies to groups characterized by intricate evolutionary processes such as hybridization, polyploidy, or asexuality. Here, challenges of current integrative taxonomy (genetics/genomics + morphology + ecology, etc.