ARS | Publication request: COLONIZATION AND DIVERSIFICATION: HISTORICAL AND COEVOLUTIONARY TRAJECTORIES AMONG CESTODES, CETACEANS AND PINNIPEDS

Submitted to: Proceedings of the International Congress of Parasitology X
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: July 25, 2002
Publication Date: August 9, 2002
Citation: Hoberg, E.P. 2002. Colonization and diversification: historical and coevolutionary trajectories among cestodes, cetaceans and pinnipeds. Proceedings of the International Congress of Parasitology X.

Interpretive Summary: Biodiversity information provides fundamental insights into the structure and history of the global fauna. Concurrently phylogenetic (genealogical) and biogeographic (distributional) information are integral components of a database to understand the association of hosts and parasites and provide fundamental insights into the ecology of complex systems. In this regard, the tapeworm faunas of marine mammals are represented by 2 archaic and phylogenetically disparate monophyletic taxa, the Diphyllobothriidae and the Tetrabothriidea. Origins and diversification for an array of genera and species among these characteristic assemblages in pinnipeds and cetaceans is linked to colonization among vertebrate definitive hosts in marine environments at varying temporal and geographic scales during the middle to late Cenozoic. Ecological linkages through food webs have been important determinants of exchange (host switching) and subsequent diversification for an array of parasites in seabirds, cetaceans and pinnipeds. These studies indicate that structure and history in complex host-parasite systems is revealed by the branching order of phylogenies. Hierarchical order of parasite phylogenies reveals historical relationships and constrains the range of possible explanations for faunal structure when examined in the context of host phylogeny. Consequently, these represent models for examination of host parasite assemblages at a general level.

Technical Abstract: Cestodes in marine mammals are represented by 2 archaic and phylogenetically disparate monophyletic taxa, the Diphyllobothriidae and the Tetrabothriidea. Origins and diversification for an array of genera and species among these characteristic assemblages in pinnipeds and cetaceans is linked to colonization among vertebrate definitive hosts in marine environments at varying temporal and geographic scales during the middle to late Cenozoic. Structure and history in these systems is revealed by the branching order of phylogenies. Hierarchical order of parasite phylogenies reveals historical relationships and constrains the range of possible explanations for faunal structure when examined in the context of host phylogeny.