Morphological evolution and phylogeny are unlinked in Hawaiian Doryopteris (Cheilanthoideae: Pteridaceae)
- 1Department of Biology and Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA; School of Life Sciences, University of H
Abstract
Premise of the study: Doryopteris J.Sm. is a genus of dry-adapted ferns found widely across the southern hemisphere and the tropics. In the Hawaiian Islands, the genus is represented by four endemic species and one putative hybrid. Two of the endemic species (D. decora and D. decipiens) are widespread across all major islands, while two (D. angelica and D. takeuchii) are federally and state-listed endangered single-island endemics.We aimed to resolve the evolutionary relationships and biogeographic history of Hawaiian Doryopteris. Methods: We used a target-capture approach and the GoFlag 408 flagellate land plant probe set to sequence more than 400 nuclear loci for 40 Hawaiian and 29 non-Hawaiian individuals in Doryopteris and the related genera Lytoneuron and Ormopteris. After processing the sequences into alignments and single nucleotide polymorphism sites, we performed phylogenetic inference and population-level principal component analyses. Key results: We infer that Hawaiian Doryopteris are monophyletic and are nested within the pantropical species D. concolor. Within Hawai'i, clades and clusters of individuals correspond to geographical, geological, and climatological factors, more so than species identifications, with a few exceptions. We posit that Hawaiian Doryopteris represents an incipient radiation at the very earliest stages of divergence, and that budding speciation has led to non-monophyly of several taxa. Conclusions Our inference using genome-wide sequencing data sheds light on the complex evolutionary history of Hawaiian Doryopteris. Overall, the phylogeny of Hawaiian Doryopteris shows strong links with geographical, geological, and climatological processes and little with morphological evolution.
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BibTeX
@misc{lau2026morphological,
title = {{Morphological evolution and phylogeny are unlinked in Hawaiian Doryopteris (Cheilanthoideae: Pteridaceae)}},
author = {P. Lau and X. Zhang and J. B. Landis and J. G. Burleigh and L. Huiet and K. R. Wood and M. K. Thomas and R. Zenil-Ferguson and C. J. Rothfels and C. M. Tribble},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.06.757157},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757157v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Morphological evolution and phylogeny are unlinked in Hawaiian Doryopteris (Cheilanthoideae: Pteridaceae)
AU - P. Lau
AU - X. Zhang
AU - J. B. Landis
AU - J. G. Burleigh
AU - L. Huiet
AU - K. R. Wood
AU - M. K. Thomas
AU - R. Zenil-Ferguson
AU - C. J. Rothfels
AU - C. M. Tribble
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.06.757157
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757157v1
AB - Premise of the study: Doryopteris J.Sm. is a genus of dry-adapted ferns found widely across the southern hemisphere and the tropics. In the Hawaiian Islands, the genus is represented by four endemic species and one putative hybrid. Two of the endemic species (D. decora and D. decipiens) are widespread across all major islands, while two (D. angelica and D. takeuchii) are federally and state-listed endangered single-island endemics.We aimed to resolve the evolutionary relationships and biogeographic history of Hawaiian Doryopteris. Methods: We used a target-capture approach and the GoFlag 408 flagellate land plant probe set to sequence more than 400 nuclear loci for 40 Hawaiian and 29 non-Hawaiian individuals in Doryopteris and the related genera Lytoneuron and Ormopteris. After processing the sequences into alignments and single nucleotide polymorphism sites, we performed phylogenetic inference and population-level principal component analyses. Key results: We infer that Hawaiian Doryopteris are monophyletic and are nested within the pantropical species D. concolor. Within Hawai'i, clades and clusters of individuals correspond to geographical, geological, and climatological factors, more so than species identifications, with a few exceptions. We posit that Hawaiian Doryopteris represents an incipient radiation at the very earliest stages of divergence, and that budding speciation has led to non-monophyly of several taxa. Conclusions Our inference using genome-wide sequencing data sheds light on the complex evolutionary history of Hawaiian Doryopteris. Overall, the phylogeny of Hawaiian Doryopteris shows strong links with geographical, geological, and climatological processes and little with morphological evolution.
ER -