https://www.osu.tests.sfulib4.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/bssb <p>The <em>Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists</em> publishes manuscripts that advance our understanding of the Earth's biodiversity, with a special focus on investigations that describe how species are related (i.e., phylogeny), identified (i.e., species delimitation or taxonomic practice), or have evolved (e.g., phylogeography, biogeography, or phylogenetic comparative methods). BSSB also publishes manuscripts that advance the theory or methods used in data analysis. Manuscripts are evaluated on two criteria: the quality of the science and their contribution to our collective understanding of the focal species or clade. BSSB aims to publish investigations that utilize state of the art data analyses and high-quality data sets to achieve these goals.</p> The Ohio State University Libraries en-US Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists 2768-0819 <p>This Author Agreement for the <em>Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists</em> ("Agreement") is entered into by and between The Ohio State University, on behalf of its University Libraries ("Publisher") and the author ("Author").</p><p>For good and valuable consideration, Publisher and Author agree as follows:</p><p>1. Author hereby grants to Publisher the right to publish, reproduce, distribute, translate, transmit and display his/her submitted work and an abstract thereof ("Work") in the <em><span>Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists</span></em> https://www.osu.tests.sfulib4.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/bssb/article/view/8992 <p><em>Flaveria</em> (Asteraceae) is the prime model for the study of C4 photosynthesis evolution and seems to support a stepwise acquisition of the pathway through C3-C4 intermediate phenotypes, still existing in <em>Flaveria</em> today. Molecular phylogenies of <em>Flaveria</em> based on concatenated data matrices are currently used to reconstruct the complex sequence of trait shifts during C4 evolution. To assess the possible role of hybridization in C4 evolution in <em>Flaveria</em>, we re-analyzed transcriptome data of 17 <em>Flaveria</em> species to infer the extent of gene tree discordance and possible reticulation events. We found massive gene tree discordance as well as reticulation along the backbone and within clades containing C3-C4 intermediate and C4-like species. An early hybridization event between two C3 species might have triggered C4 evolution in the genus. The clade containing all C4 species plus the C4-like species <em>F. vaginata</em> and<em> F. palmeri</em> is highly supported in our phylogenetic analyses, but it might be of hybrid origin involving<em> F. angustifolia</em> and <em>F. sonorensis </em>(both C3-C4 intermediate) as parental lineages. Hybridization seems to be a driver of C4 evolution in <em>Flaveria</em> and likely promoted the fast acquisition of C4 traits. This new insight can be used in further exploring C4 evolution and can inform C4 bioengineering efforts.</p> Diego F. Morales-Briones Gudrun Kadereit Copyright (c) 2023 Diego F. Morales-Briones, Gudrun Kadereit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2023-07-24 2023-07-24 2 3 1 16 https://www.osu.tests.sfulib4.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/bssb/article/view/9263 <p>One of the largest beetles of Patagonia, <em>Baripus</em> (<em>Cardiophthalmus</em>), includes 20 currently described species. Its distribution ranges from the tip of Patagonia, on Tierra del Fuego Island, to isolated patches along the Andes and extra-Andes mountains in northern Patagonia on the Payunia at &gt;3000 m elevation. Here, using RADseq data, evidence is found of mixed ancestry in different lineages. Phylogenetic network reconstruction shows two hybridizing edges between lowland and highland species. Using environmental niche modeling, we show changes in geographic distribution of potential niches of species during the last glacial maximum compared to their present distribution. Increasing potential niche overlap among different species pairs possibly explains how lineages came into secondary contact, supporting the hypothesis of hybridization. In addition, morphological evolution is studied using geometric morphometrics on the network, and evidence of transgressive evolution has been found involving the pronotum shape, as well as highland/lowland habitat preferences. Finally, based on genomics and morphological data and using an integrative coalescent-based species delimitation approach, the separate evolution of two lineages in early stages of speciation is found. Taken together, dynamics of diversification of <em>Baripus</em> beetles in both space and time are discussed.</p> Melisa Olave Mariana Griotti Roldolfo Carrara Paolo Franchini Axel Meyer Sergio A. Roig-Juñent Copyright (c) 2023 Melisa Olave, Mariana Griotti, Rodolfo Carrara, Paolo Franchini, Axel Meyer, Sergio A. Roig-Juñent http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2023-08-25 2023-08-25 2 3 1 16