A multispecies coalescent model for quantitative traits

Abstract
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Abstract

We present a multispecies coalescent model for quantitative traits that allows for evolutionary inferences at micro- and macroevolutionary scales. A major advantage of this model is its ability to incorporate genealogical discordance underlying a quantitative trait. We show that discordance causes a decrease in the expected trait covariance between more closely related species relative to more distantly related species. If unaccounted for, this outcome can lead to an overestimation of a trait's evolutionary rate, to a decrease in its phylogenetic signal, and to errors when examining shifts in mean trait values. The number of loci controlling a quantitative trait appears to be irrelevant to all trends reported, and discordance also affected discrete, threshold traits. Our model and analyses point to the conditions under which different methods should fare better or worse, in addition to indicating current and future approaches that can mitigate the effects of discordance.

Data availability

Simulated data can be found at: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m2s1735

The following data sets were generated

(2018) Data from: A multispecies coalescent model for quantitative traits
Available at Dryad Digital Repository under a CC0 Public Domain Dedication.

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m2s1735

Article and author information

Author details

Fábio K Mendes

Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, United States

For correspondence
fkmendes@indiana.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6204-7208
Jesualdo A Fuentes-González

Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Joshua G Schraiber

Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Matthew W. Hahn

Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-5731-8808

Funding

National Science Foundation (DBI-1564611)

Matthew W. Hahn

National Institutes of Health (R35 GM124745)

Joshua G Schraiber

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.