Cophylogenetic patterns and speciation in avian haemosporidians

Abstract

An extraordinary surge in the number and quality of avian haemosporidian studies in the Neotropics is unveiling the complex ecology and evolution of a successful group of parasites that have a global distribution and staggering diversity. However, despite avian haemosporidian parasites being ubiquitous, many factors still limit our understanding of their diversity. First, traditional taxonomy demands information that is relatively challenging to scale up, so several molecular lineages that are likely new species remain as "dark taxa". Second, there exists only a limited characterization of how parasites inhabit multiple hosts from a handful of censuses. Third, an understanding of the temporal and spatial scales of speciation in this group is limited by a framework built on associations and general patterns. These factors will be discussed by explaining how species are described and delimited, how the available evidence provides insight into possible mechanisms that may elucidate the staggering diversity of haemosporidian parasites, and finally, how the available tools allow us to make preliminary inferences about the time scale of such speciation processes. Although broad in scope, this chapter highlights the need for understanding community-level processes to explain the origins and speciation in this parasite group.