Nuclear genomes distinguish cryptic species suggested by their DNA barcodes and ecology

Researchers have uncovered three cryptic butterfly species within the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, using nuclear genome analysis combined with mitochondrial DNA barcoding and ecological data. These species, previously overlooked due to their extreme similarity, exhibit distinct genetic and morphological traits that align with their ecological niches. The study highlights the power of integrating multi-faceted genomic and ecological approaches to identify cryptic biodiversity, significantly increasing species counts in the region. Additionally, the findings reveal that a century-old type specimen from Venezuela belongs to one of these cryptic species, while the other two are newly described.

Janzen, D. H., Burns, J. M., Cong, Q., Hallwachs, W., Dapkey, T., Manjunath, R., Hajibabaei, M., Hebert, P. D. N., & Grishin, N. V. (2017). Nuclear genomes distinguish cryptic species suggested by their DNA barcodes and ecology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(31), 8313–8318. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1621504114