National University of Singapore, Department of Biological Sciences, Singapore, Singapore
Kritika M Garg
National University of Singapore, Department of Biological Sciences, Singapore, Singapore
Balaji Chattopadhyay
National University of Singapore, Department of Biological Sciences, Singapore, Singapore
Keren R Sadanandan
National University of Singapore, Department of Biological Sciences, Singapore, Singapore; Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
Dewi M Prawiradilaga
Division of Zoology, Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Cibinong Science Center, Cibinong, Indonesia
Martin Irestedt
Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
Fumin Lei
Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
Luke M Bloch
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
Jessica GH Lee
Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Mohammad Irham
Division of Zoology, Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Cibinong Science Center, Cibinong, Indonesia
Tri Haryoko
Division of Zoology, Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Cibinong Science Center, Cibinong, Indonesia
Malcolm CK Soh
University of Western Australia, School of Biological Sciences, Perth, Australia
Sciences Department, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Teuku Reza Ferasyi
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Darussalam, Indonesia; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Phylogenomics and Comparative Genomics, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China
Shaoyuan Wu
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2011 Collaborative Innovation Center of Tianjin for Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China; Center for Tropical Veterinary Studies – One Health Collaboration Center, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Darussalam, Indonesia
Guinevere OU Wogan
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
Archipelagoes serve as important ‘natural laboratories’ which facilitate the study of island radiations and contribute to the understanding of evolutionary processes. The white-eye genus Zosterops is a classical example of a ‘great speciator’, comprising c. 100 species from across the Old World, most of them insular. We achieved an extensive geographic DNA sampling of Zosterops by using historical specimens and recently collected samples. Using over 700 genome-wide loci in conjunction with coalescent species tree methods and gene flow detection approaches, we untangled the reticulated evolutionary history of Zosterops, which comprises three main clades centered in Indo-Africa, Asia, and Australasia, respectively. Genetic introgression between species permeates the Zosterops phylogeny, regardless of how distantly related species are. Crucially, we identified the Indonesian archipelago, and specifically Borneo, as the major center of diversity and the only area where all three main clades overlap, attesting to the evolutionary importance of this region.
