The acacia ants revisited: convergent evolution and biogeographic context in an iconic ant/plant mutualism

Phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses can enhance our understanding of multispecies interactions by placing the origin and evolution of such interactions in a temporal and geographical context. We use a phylogenomic approach—ultraconserved element sequence capture—to investigate the evolutionary history of an iconic multispecies mutualism: Neotropical acacia ants ( Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus group) and their associated Vachellia hostplants. In...