ArticleParasites & vectors2018
The Amblyomma maculatum Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae) group of ticks: phenotypic plasticity or incipient speciation?
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- First description of the complete mitochondrial genomes of the species Amblyomma humerale and Amblyomma geayi (Acari: Ixodidae), Amazon, Pará, Brazil.Experimental & applied acarology · 2026Article
- Article
- Automated identification of spotted-fever tick vectors using convolutional neural networks.Medical and veterinary entomology · 2025Article
- Morphological and genetic polymorphisms in Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille 1806) from the Iberian Peninsula.Parasitology research · 2025Article
- The natural history of Amblyomma maculatum sensu lato, a vector of Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis, in southern Arizona.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Applying MALDI-TOF MS to resolve morphologic and genetic similarities between two Dermacentor tick species of public health importance.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Molecular detection of rickettsial agents in Amblyomma maculatum ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) from Ecuador.Veterinary research communications · 2024Article
- Unraveling the phylogenetics of genetically closely related species, Haemaphysalis japonica and Haemaphysalis megaspinosa, using entire tick mitogenomes and microbiomes.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- New insights into the molecular phylogeny, biogeographical history, and diversification of Amblyomma ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) based on mitogenomes and nuclear sequences.Parasites & vectors · 2024Article
- Science abhors a surveillance vacuum: Detection of ticks and tick-borne pathogens in southern New Mexico through passive surveillance.PloS one · 2024Article
- Novel Francisella-like endosymbiont and Anaplasma species from Amblyomma nodosum hosted by the anteater Tamandua Mexicana in Mexico.Experimental & applied acarology · 2023Article
- Ticks and Rickettsiae Associated with Wild Animals Sold in Bush Meat Markets in Cameroon.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- A new species of tick, Ixodes (Ixodes) mojavensis (Acari: Ixodidae), from the Amargosa Valley of California.Ticks and tick-borne diseases · 2022Article
- Extension of the distribution of Amblyomma triste Koch, 1844: Morphological and molecular confirmation of Morphotype I in Colombia.Ticks and tick-borne diseases · 2022Article
- Ticks infesting dogs and cats in North America: Biology, geographic distribution, and pathogen transmission.Veterinary parasitology · 2021Review
- Molecular detection of Rickettsia sp. cf. Rickettsia monacensis in Ixodes sp. cf. Ixodes affinis collected from white-tailed deer in Campeche, Mexico.Parasitology research · 2021Article
- An annotated checklist of the eukaryotic parasites of humans, exclusive of fungi and algae.ZooKeys · 2021Article
- Comparative population genetics of Amblyomma maculatum and Amblyomma americanum in the mid-Atlantic United States.Ticks and tick-borne diseases · 2021Article
- Molecular screening for rickettsial bacteria and piroplasms in ixodid ticks surveyed from white-tailed deer (International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2020Article
- Reproductive incompatibility between Amblyomma maculatum (Acari: Ixodidae) group ticks from two disjunct geographical regions within the USA.Experimental & applied acarology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe goal of this study was to reassess the taxonomic status of A. maculatum, A. triste and A. tigrinum by phylogenetic analysis of five molecular markers [four mitochondrial: 12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, the control region (DL) and cytochrome c oxidase 1 (cox1), and one nuclear: ribosomal intergenic transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2)]. In addition, the phenotypic diversity of adult ticks identified as A. maculatum and A. triste from geographically distinct populations was thoroughly re-examined.
resultsMicroscopic examination identified four putative morphotypes distinguishable by disjunct geographical ranges, but very scant fixed characters. Analysis of the separated mitochondrial datasets mostly resulted in conflicting tree topologies. Nuclear gene sequences were almost identical throughout the geographical ranges of the two species, suggesting a very recent, almost explosive radiation of the terminal operational taxonomic units. Analysis of concatenated molecular datasets was more informative and indicated that, although genetically very close to the A. maculatum - A. triste lineage, A. tigrinum was a monophyletic separate entity. Within the A. maculatum - A. triste cluster, three main clades were supported. The two morphotypes, corresponding to the western North American and eastern North American populations, consistently grouped in a single monophyletic clade with many shared mitochondrial sequences among ticks of the two areas. Ticks from the two remaining morphotypes, south-eastern South America and Peruvian, corresponded to two distinct clades.
conclusionsGiven the paucity of morphological characters, the minimal genetic distance separating morphotypes, and more importantly the fact that two morphotypes are genetically indistinguishable, our data suggest that A. maculatum and A. triste should be synonymized and that morphological differences merely reflect very recent local adaptation to distinct environments in taxa that might be undergoing the first steps of speciation but have yet to complete lineage sorting. Nonetheless, future investigations using more sensitive nuclear markers and/or crossbreeding experiments might reveal the occurrence of very rapid speciation events in this group of taxa. Tentative node dating revealed that the A. tigrinum and A. maculatum - A. triste clades split about 2 Mya, while the A. maculatum - A.triste cluster radiated no earlier than 700,000 years ago.
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