@article {95643, title = {Evolutionary history of mammalian sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura)}, journal = {BMC Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {10}, year = {2010}, month = {Sept 2010}, pages = {15 pp}, abstract = {

Background

Sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) are obligate, permanent ectoparasites of eutherian mammals, parasitizing members of 12 of the 29 recognized mammalian orders and approximately 20\% of all mammalian species. These host specific, blood-sucking insects are morphologically adapted for life on mammals: they are wingless, dorso-ventrally flattened, possess tibio-tarsal claws for clinging to host hair, and have piercing mouthparts for feeding. Although there are more than 540 described species of Anoplura and despite the potential economical and medical implications of sucking louse infestations, this study represents the first attempt to examine higher-level anopluran relationships using molecular data. In this study, we use molecular data to reconstruct the evolutionary history of 65 sucking louse taxa with phylogenetic analyses and compare the results to findings based on morphological data. We also estimate divergence times among anopluran taxa and compare our results to host (mammal) relationships.

Results

This study represents the first phylogenetic hypothesis of sucking louse relationships using molecular data and we find significant conflict between phylogenies constructed using molecular and morphological data. We also find that multiple families and genera of sucking lice are not monophyletic and that extensive taxonomic revision will be necessary for this group. Based on our divergence dating analyses, sucking lice diversified in the late Cretaceous, approximately 77 Ma, and soon after the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (ca. 65 Ma) these lice proliferated rapidly to parasitize multiple mammalian orders and families.

Conclusions

The diversification time of sucking lice approximately 77 Ma is in agreement with mammalian evolutionary history: all modern mammal orders are hypothesized to have diverged by 75 Ma thus providing suitable habitat for the colonization and radiation of sucking lice. Despite the concordant timing of diversification events early in the association between anoplurans and mammals, there is substantial conflict between the host and parasite phylogenies. This conflict is likely the result of a complex history of host switching and extinction events that occurred throughout the evolutionary association between sucking lice and their mammalian hosts. It is unlikely that there are any ectoparasite groups (including lice) that tracked the early and rapid radiation of eutherian mammals.

}, keywords = {chewing louse, Codon position, host switching, Mammalian host, Taxon sampling}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-10-292}, url = {https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2148-10-292}, author = {Jessica E. Light and Vincent Stuart Smith and Julie M. Allen and Lance A. Durden and David L. Reed} } @article {95234, title = {Disentangling lousy relationships: Comparative phylogenomics of two sucking louse lineages parasitizing chipmunks}, journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}, volume = {155}, year = {2020}, month = {10-2020}, pages = {11 pp}, abstract = {

The evolution of obligate parasites is often interpreted in light of their hosts\&$\#$39; evolutionary history. An expanded approach is to examine the histories of multiple lineages of parasites that inhabit similar environments on a particular host lineage. Western North American chipmunks (genus Tamias) have a broad distribution, a history of divergence with gene flow, and host two species of sucking lice (Anoplura), Hoplopleura arboricola and Neo-haematopinus pacificus. From total genomic sequencing, we obtained sequences of over 1100 loci sampled across the genomes of these lice to compare their evolutionary histories and examine the roles of host association in structuring louse relationships. Within each louse species, clades are largely associated with closely related chipmunk host species. Exceptions to this pattern appear to have a biogeographic component, but differ between the two louse species. Phylogenetic relationships among these major louse clades, in both species, are not congruent with chipmunk relationships. In the context of host associations, each louse lineage has a different evolutionary history, supporting the hypothesis that host-parasite assemblages vary both across the landscape and with the taxa under investigation. In addition, the louse Hoplopleura erratica (parasitizing the eastern Tamias striatus) is embedded within H. arboricola, rendering it paraphyletic. This phylogenetic result, together with comparable divergences within H. arboricola, indicate a need for taxonomic revision. Both host divergence and biogeographic components shape parasite diversification as demonstrated by the distinctive diversification patterns of these two independently evolving lineages that parasitize the same hosts.

}, keywords = {Chipmunks, lice, Phylogenomics}, issn = {10557903}, doi = {10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106998}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1055790320302700}, author = {Kayce C. Bell and Julie M. Allen and Kevin P. Johnson and John R. Demboski and Joseph A. Cook} }