Simultaneous radiation of bird and mammal lice following the K-Pg boundary. (23rd May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Johnson, Kevin P.; Nguyen, Nam-phuong; Sweet, Andrew D.; Boyd, Bret M.; Warnow, Tandy; Allen, Julie M.
• Is Part Of: Biology letters. Volume 14:Number 5(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-05-23
• Subjects: phylogenomics -- systematics -- host–parasite interactions -- Phthiraptera -- coevolution; Biology -- Periodicals; 570.5
• DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0141
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-9561

Abstract

Abstract : The diversification of parasite groups often occurs at the same time as the diversification of their hosts. However, most studies demonstrating this concordance only examine single host–parasite groups. Multiple diverse lineages of ectoparasitic lice occur across both birds and mammals. Here, we describe the evolutionary history of lice based on analyses of 1107 single-copy orthologous genes from sequenced genomes of 46 species of lice. We identify three major diverse groups of lice: one exclusively on mammals, one almost exclusively on birds and one on both birds and mammals. Each of these groups radiated just after the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, the time of the mass extinction event of the dinosaurs and rapid diversification of most of the modern lineages of birds and mammals.