Ignacio M. Soto

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• Dr.
• Professor at University of Buenos Aires

We investigated the correlated evolution of fitness‐related traits in cactophilic species Drosophila buzzatii Patterson & Wheeler and D. koepferae Fontdevila & Wasserman (Drosophilidae, Drosophilini) as an indirect response to adaptation to high concentrations of phytochemicals in their host plant ( Trichocereus terscheckii Briton & Rose). Specific...

The role of phenotypic modularity in the evolution of skull morphology in birds has been a subject of debate in recent years. Furnariids (ovenbirds and woodcreepers), a spectacular avian adaptive radiation, are distinguished in their cranial morphology as the only passerines with two types of cranial kinesis, constituting a great model to test whet...

Modularity and developmental (in)stability have the potential to influence phenotype production and, consequently, the evolutionary trajectories of species. Depending on the environmental factors involved and the buffering capacity of an organism, different developmental outcomes are expected. Cactophilic Drosophila species provide an established e...

Avances en la caracterización de la regulación metacognitiva en el aprendizaje del modelo de evolución por selección natural Nuestra investigación se enmarca en el proyecto de tesis doctoral de la primera autora. Dicha investigación tiene como objetivo general caracterizar el proceso de aprendizaje del modelo de evolución por selección natural (MES...

People make decisions through intuitive, quick, and undemanding modes of thinking (Kahneman, 2012). However, these modes of reasoning often hinder the understanding and application of scientific knowledge because such knowledge is particularly counterintuitive (Pozo, 2014). Our ongoing work (Cupo et al., 2023a; 2023b) aims to investigate the learni...

Great efforts have been sustained to explain the relationships between genotype and phenotype for developmental fitness traits through the study of their genetic architecture. However, crucial aspects of functional architecture influencing the maintenance of genetic variability, and thus the capacity for evolutionary change, are still unexplored. H...

Great efforts have been sustained to explain the relationships between genotype and phenotype for developmental fitness traits through the study of their genetic architecture. However, crucial aspects of functional architecture influencing the maintenance of genetic variability, and thus the capacity for evolutionary change, are still unexplored. H...

Desert ecosystems are currently threatened by human activities resulting in the rapid decline of xerophytic plants and specialized fauna. In South America, the demise of cactus species already resulted in the population decline of > 30% of the iconic giant columnar cactus Trichocereus terscheckii. The increasing vulnerability of these keystone spec...

Abstract Cacti are characterized by the extensive production of a broad variety of toxic metabolites as an anti‐herbivore strategy but nevertheless cactophilic Drosophila spp. (Diptera: Drosophilidae) feed and breed on decaying cacti. The family of cytochrome P450 is a group of enzymes involved in the detoxification metabolism, which are critical f...

Cultural transformations of lifestyles and dietary practices have been key drivers of human evolution. However, while most of the evidence of genomic adaptations is related to the hunter-gatherer transition to agricultural societies, little is known on the infuence of other major cultural manifestations. Shamanism is considered the oldest religion...

Sclerogibbid wasps conform a small group of chrysidoids and parasitoids of embiopterans especially found in arid and semiarid habitats. Although its distribution in America is fairly well known, information about sclerogibbid wasps from Argentina is scarce. The first record of a species belonging to the family Sclerogibbidae (Hymenoptera) for the p...

Variational properties hold a fundamental role in shaping biological evolution, exerting control over the magnitude and direction of evolutionary change elicited by micro-evolutionary processes that sort variation, such as selection or drift. We studied the genus Tyrannus as a model for examining the conditions and drivers that facilitate the repea...

The first nutritional profiling of all Trichocereus species of columnar cacti from northern Argentina is reported. Commonly called 'cardones' by locals, they are iconic elements of the flora and cultural heritage in the region. A general chemical characterization of the four species (T. atacamensis, T. terschekii, T. tarijensis and T.schikendatzii)...

Despite the paleontological relevance and paleobiological interest of trigoniid bivalves, our knowledge of their ontogeny—an aspect of crucial evolutionary importance—remains limited. Here, we assess the intra- and interspecific ontogenetic variations exhibited by the genus Steinmanella Crickmay (Myophorellidae: Steinmanellinae) during the early Va...

The Drosophila repleta group comprises more than one hundred species that inhabit several environments in the Neotropics and use different hosts as rearing and feeding resources. Rather homogeneous in their external morphology, they are generally distinguished by the male genitalia, seemingly their fastest evolving morphological trait, constituting...

Throughout their evolution, birds have embraced a wide variety of intriguing tail phenotypes. These are primarily related to flight performance, of course; but many people also study their coevolutionary implications with dietary habits, migratory patterns, foraging strategies and more. The genus Tyrannus is considered a great model for examining t...

Allometric shape variation fed sexual selection in deep-forked Flycatchers, driving the repeated evolution of exaggeratedly long feathers along a historically favoured direction of cladogenetic evolution.

Variational properties hold a fundamental role in shaping biological evolution, exerting control over the magnitude and direction of evolutionary change elicited by microevolutionary processes that sort variation, such as selection or drift. We studied the Tyrannus genus, as a model for examining the conditions and drivers that facilitate the repea...

The Multiple Use Reserve of Valle Fértil (San Juan province, Argentina) is a protected area with particular climatic features that include a large segment of xeric environments. It harbors numerous endemic and protected species. Despite the conspicuous presence of cacti and succulent communities in the area, a formal survey of species richness had...

Marsupial carditids of the subfamily Thecaliinae are characterized by the presence of an “incubatory chamber” in female shells, where the eggs hatch and develop during their first stages. According to recent phylogenetic studies, Thecaliinae are closely related to Carditinae, a group that has a byssal gape. This structure occurs in the same area as...

Argentina is considered megadiverse for Cactaceae, and Jujuy province, with a high proportion of cacti ende-mism, is a critical region for their preservation. Cacti deterioration is mainly associated with habitat degradation, agricultural frontier advance, urbanization, illegal collection and trade. Of the three species of columnar cacti within Tri...

1. We assessed the host‐related niche breadth for D. koepferae and D. buzzatii, a pair of sibling cactophilic species with contrasting backgrounds of host use. We tested for the ‘Jack of all trades‐ Master of none’ scenario predicting a more evident exhibition in D. buzzatii rather than in the supposedly specialist D. koepferae. 2. Additionally, us...

The mite Macrocheles subbadius (Berlese) (Acari: Macrochelidae) is recorded for the first time in Argentina, associated to the cactophilic fly Drosophila koepferae Fontdevila & Wasserman (Diptera: Drosophilidae) from San Agustín de Valle Fértil, province of San Juan.

Cephalomys is the best-known cephalomyid, recorded in five localities in Argentina and known from well-preserved mandibles, fragments of skull, and a large number of isolated teeth, from both juveniles and adults. Despite this, a modern description is lacking and the validity of some species of Cephalomys has been questioned in the last few years....

Drosophila koepferae and Drosophila buzzatii are closely related cactophilic species with overlapping distributions in Andean regions. Both species exploit necrotic tissues, and whereas the former breeds and feeds mostly in columnar cacti of Trichocereus and Cereus genera rich in secondary metabolites, the latter primarily exploits a less toxic hos...

Steinmanella (Trigonioida, Myophorelloidea) es uno de los géneros de bivalvos fósiles más comunes y conspicuos del Cretácico Inferior de Cuenca Neuquina, registrándose en numerosos niveles estratigráficos a lo largo del intervalo Valanginiano inferior-Hauteriviano superior. El objetivo del presente trabajo es la caracterización de los patrones de e...

The rapid diversification of sexual traits is a common phenomenon accompanying the evolution of reproductive isolation, yet the evolutionary mechanisms driving such diversification are often unknown. Based on experimentally evolved strains of two sister species of cactophilic Drosophila, we investigated the correlated evolution of primary and secon...

A wide spectrum of song complexity has been documented in a broad range of animal taxa. However, the underlying processes shaping acoustic differences are still poorly understood. Empirical and theoretical studies suggest that different song parameters may be subject to different tempos and modes of evolution, resulting in a complex combination of...

A wide spectrum of song complexity has been documented in a broad range of animal taxa. However, the underlying processes shaping acoustic differences are still poorly understood. Empirical and theoretical studies suggest that different song parameters may be subject to different tempos and modes of evolution, resulting in a complex combination of...

Drosophila buzzatii and Drosophila koepferae are sibling species with marked ecological differences related to their patterns of host exploitation. D. buzzatii is a polyphagous species with a sub-cosmopolitan distribution, while D. koepferae is endemic to the mountain plateaus of the Andes, where it exploits alkaloidiferous columnar cacti as primar...

Genital morphology in animals with internal fertilization is considered to be among the fastest evolving traits. Sexual selection is often proposed as the main driver of genital diversification but the exact selection mechanisms involved are usually unclear. In addition, the mechanisms operating may differ even between pairs of sibling species. We...

Closely related species often differ in the signals involved in sexual communication and mate recognition. Determining the factors influencing signal quality (i.e. signal's content and conspicuousness) provides an important insight into the potential pathways by which these interspecific differences evolve. Host specificity could bias the direction...

The Pleistocene refugia theory proposes that recurrent expansions and contractions of xerophytic vegetation over periods of climate change affected the evolution of cactophilic Drosophila in South America. The resulting demographic fluctuations linked to the available patches of vegetation should have been prone to bottlenecks and founder events, a...

The complex morphological evolution of the bivalve Ptychomya throughout the well-studied Agrio Formation in the Neuquén Basin (west-central Argentina, lower/upper Valanginian–lowest Barremian) constitutes an ideal opportunity to study evolutionary patterns and processes occurring at geological timescales . Ptychomya is represented in this unit by f...

The complex morphological evolution of the bivalve Ptychomya throughout the well-studied Agrio Formation in the Neuquén Basin (west-central Argentina, lower/upper Valanginian–lowest Barremian) constitutes an ideal opportunity to study evolutionary patterns and processes occurring at geological timescales . Ptychomya is represented in this unit by f...

The cactophilic flies Drosophila buzzatii and Drosophila koepferae are generally each associated with a different host cactus, although resource sharing can occur in regions of sympatry. Host choice has been shown to affect several fitness-related traits, but the mechanisms determining it are poorly understood. We investigate how alternative cacti...

Drosophila buzzatii and D. koepferae are sibling cactophilic species. The former breeds primarily on prickly pears (genus Opuntia) whereas the latter breeds on columnar cacti of the genera Cereus and Trichocereus, although with certain degree of niche overlapping. We examined the interspecific differences in diurnal temporal patterns of adult emerg...

In the Lower Cretaceous Agrio Formation, Neuquén Basin (west-central Argentina), the highly variable genus Ptychomya Agassiz has challenged traditional taxonomists for over a century. Here we apply a previously outlined quantitative protocol in order to settle the taxonomy of the genus based on specimens recorded from the base to the top of the Agr...

High-throughput transcriptome studies are breaking new ground to investigate the responses that organisms deploy in alternative environments. Nevertheless much remains to be understood about the genetic basis of host plant adaptation. Here, we investigate genome-wide expression in the fly Drosophila buzzatii raised in different conditions. This spe...

To predict the response of complex morphological structures to selection it is necessary to know how the covariation among its different parts is organized. Two key features of covariation are modularity and integration. The Drosophila wing is currently considered a fully integrated structure. Here we study the patterns of integration of the Drosop...

Comunidad de aprendizaje y efecto multiplicador intra-universitario: un ejemplo de líneas de acción y actividades de extensión interdepartamentales de alumnos, docentes e investigadores de la FCEyN-UBA

Drosophila buzzatii (Patterson & Wheeler), a typical cactophilic species of the repleta group, is registered for the first time emerging from Melon (Cucumis melo) in western Argentina. The analysis of inversion polymorphism and genetic diversity of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (mtCOI) provided additional evidence that corroborate...

Understanding the evolution of a Bauplan starts with discriminating phylogenetic signal from adaptation and the latter from exaptation in the observed biodiversity. Whether traits have predated, accompanied, or followed evolution of particular functions is the basic inference to establish the type of explanations required to determine morphological...

Music preferences have long been studied owing to their importance in the fields of psychology and sociology. However, previous efforts seldom focused on people’s deliberate choices of music in everyday life. In this study, we aimed to analyze music listening behaviors using personal records of music listening activity. We obtained the history of s...

The taxonomic significance of the morphological variability present in the genus Ptychomya Agassiz has remained obscure due to inadequacy of the traditional qualitative approach to account for complex patterns of variation. In this work, we focus on solving the distinction between intra- and interspecific variability in Ptychomya from Hauterivian m...

Los pípidos constituyen un grupo de ranas completamente acuáticas con un rico registro fósil que se remonta al Cretácico medio. Actualmente el grupo comprende 34 especies pertenecientes a tres clados distintivos, Xenopodinae, Pipa e Hymenochirini, los dos últimos conformando Pipinae. Su esqueleto, incluyendo el sacrourostilo, presenta numerosas pec...

The use of quantitative morphometric information for phylogenetic inference has been an intensely debated topic for most of the history of phylogenetic systematics. Despite several drawbacks, the most common strategy to include this sort of data into phylogenetic studies is the use of ratios, that is quotients between morphometric variables. Here,...

The cactus-yeast-Drosophila system is a model system in evolutionary biology, and the participating saprotrophic microorganisms represent one of the most thoroughly studied microbial communities. However, much of the cactus-dominated regions of South America, home to endemic versions of this classical system, remain understudied. A combined morpho-...

Host shifts cause drastic consequences on fitness in cactophilic species of Drosophila. It has been argued that changes in the nutritional values accompanying host shifts may elicited these fitness responses, but they may also reflect the presence of potentially toxic secondary compounds that affect resource quality. Recent studies reported that al...

Neriidae are a small family of acalyptratae flies, mostly distributed in the tropics. Very little is known about their biology, and the evolutionary relationships among species have never been evaluated. We perform the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the family, including 48 species from all biogeographic regions inhabited, as well as...

Several studies have shown the interesting properties of Opuntia spp. ("prickly pears"), although most of this knowledge is based on O. ficus-indica. O. sulphurea is a species that is largely distributed in the Monte region of Argentina, where it has been used as an edible resource, especially in periods of food shortage. This is the first report e...

The evolution of cactophily in the genus Drosophila was a major ecological transition involving over a hundred species in the Americas that acquired the capacity to cope with a variety of toxic metabolites evolved as feeding deterrents in Cactaceae. D. buzzatii and D. koepferae are sibling cactophilic species in the D. repleta group. The former is...

Capuchin monkeys (Cebus) are one of the genera with the widest distribution among Neotropical primates (New World Monkeys, Platyrrhini), accompanied by an elevated genetic, phenotypic, behavioral, morphological, and ecological diversity, both at the interspecific and population levels. Despite being one of the most studied primate genera, this high...

The host-plant environment of phytophagous insects directly affects various aspects of an insect's life cycle. Interestingly, relatively few insect groups have specialized in the exploitation of plants in the Cactaceae family, potentially because of the chemical and ecological challenges imposed by these plants. The cactophilic Drosophila buzzatii...

We report the first record of Megaselia scalaris (Loew) infesting laboratory stocks of the praying mantis (Parastagmatoptera tessellata, Saussure). M. scalaris, the scuttle fly, is a cosmopolitan species with a broad niche as it performs as detritivore, facultative parasite, and parasitoid. M. scalaris larvae were found feeding inside adult mantids...

Increasing evidence from multiple animal systems suggests that genital evolution and diversification are driven by rapid and strong evolutionary forces. Particularly, the morphology of male genital structures is considered to be among the fastest evolving traits in animal groups with internal fertilization. In this study, we investigated patterns o...

Columnar cacti Trichocereus terscheckii is an important source of food and water for insects, birds and wild cattle in dry areas of North West Argentina. Their fruits have been suggested as a plausible source of food, but are not directly included in the human diet yet. Stem chemistry has long been of interest because of its hallucinogenic properti...

In the present work we are reporting for the first time the presence of D. nebulosa in San Juan province enlarging in a south-western direction its Andean distributional range. Our sampling site, San Agustín del Valle Fértil (30° 38’ 1” S, 67° 27’ 59” W) is located at 250 km north-east of the capital city of the province, San Juan. This zone belong...

Aedeagal morphology of two sibling cactophilic species, Drosophila buzzatii Patterson & Wheeler and Drosophila koepferae Fontdevila & Wasserman, was analyzed in nine allopatric and three sympatric locations throughout South America. Morphological differences were detected for both aedeagus size and shape between sympatric and allopatric populations...

Diferencias en la melanización y el patrón de pigmentación alar en Drosophila buzzatii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) bajo estrés químico  RESUMEN. Recientemente, hemos avanzado en nuestra comprensión de las bases genéticas y los mecanismos subyacentes al proceso de melanización durante el desarrollo, lo que permite el estudio de los procesos evolutivos...

Genetic information of candidate genes for wing shape. Lines in which the P-element insertion affected wing shape in either sex. The candidate gene and the site of the mutation are given.

The Drosophila wing represents a particularly appropriate model to investigate the developmental control of phenotypic variation. Previous studies which aimed to identify candidate genes for wing morphology demonstrated that the genetic basis of wing shape variation in D. melanogaster is composed of numerous genetic factors causing small, additive...

The choice of egg laying site and progeny's performance in a rearing site are important components of habitat selection. Despite the huge amount of genetic, morphological, behavioral and physiological data regarding Drosophila melanogaster Meigen and D. simulans Sturtevant, oviposition site preferences remain poorly known. We investigated resource...

The inversion polymorphisms of the cactophilic Drosophila buzzatti Patterson and Wheeler (Diptera: Drosophilidae) were studied in new areas of its distribution in Argentina. A total of thirty-eight natural populations, including 29 from previous studies, were analyzed using multiple regression analyses. The results showed that about 23% of total va...

The Drosophila repleta group encompasses an ensemble of species that inhabit desertic areas that are inhospitable to other drosophilids. These species have a tractable ecology, as they breed and feed on necrotic tissues of a wide diversity of species of Cactaceae, with a certain degree of host specificity, which makes them suitable models to invest...

Cactophilic Drosophila flies are excellent models to study adaptation to a relatively narrow spectrum of potential host plants and host-driven evolutionary diversification. Previous studies suggested a complex genetic architecture of wing and male genital morphology in phylogenetically basal species of the D. buzzatii cluster. In this work, we inve...

The term ecotoxicology is defined it as "the branch of toxicology concerned with the study of toxic effects, caused by natural or synthetic pollutants, to the constituents of ecosystems, animal (including human), vegetable and microbial, in an integral context". Ecotoxicology is alleged to be the integration of toxicology and ecology or, "ecology i...

Drosophila gouveai Tidon-Sklorz & Sene and Drosophila antonietae Tidon-Sklorz & Sene (Diptera: Drosophilidae) are two cactophilic sibling species that belong to the Drosophila buzzatii cluster, which comprises seven species living in South America. D. gouveai uses the decaying stems of Cactaceae of the genus Pilosocereus as breeding sites, whereas...

A central issue in evolutionary biology is to understand the mechanisms promoting morphological evolution during speciation. In a previous study, we showed that the Neotropical cactophilic sibling species Drosophila gouveai and Drosophila antonietae can be reared in media prepared with their presumptive natural host plants (Pilosocereus machrisis a...

The rapid evolution of male genital morphology is a characteristic feature of several animal groups. Such rapid divergence makes this trait a useful key for species identification. The aedeagus, the intromittent organ of male genitalia, is considered the main diagnostic trait in the Drosophila repleta group. In this study we analysed phenotypic pla...

Drosophila serido Vilela & Sene is a polytypic and cactophilic species with broad geographic distribution in Brazil. The morphology of the aedeagi of eight natural populations of D. serido was analyzed. Based on features of their aedeagi, populations of D. serido were discriminated with an efficiency of nearly 75%. The analysis using the Mantel tes...

In this work we investigate the effect of interspecific hybridization on wing morphology using geometric morphometrics in the cactophilic sibling species D. buzzatii and D. koepferae. Wing morphology in F1 hybrids exhibited an important degree of phenotypic plasticity and differs significantly from both parental species. However, the pattern of mor...

As in most insect groups, host plant shifts in cactophilic Drosophila represent environmental challenges as flies must adjust their developmental programme to the presence of different chemical compounds and/or to a microflora that may differ in the diversity and abundance of yeasts and bacteria. In this context, wing morphology provides an excelle...

In the genus Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae), interspecific hybridization is a rare phenomenon. However, recent evidence suggests a certain degree of introgression between the cactophilic siblings Drosophila buzzatii Patterson & Wheeler and Drosophila koepferae Fontdevila & Wasserman. In this article, we analyzed larval viability and developmen...

The rapid evolution of genital morphology is a fascinating feature that accompanies many speciation events. However, the underlying patterns and explanatory processes remain to be settled. In this work we investigate the patterns of intraspecific variation and interspecific divergence in male genitalic morphology (size and shape) in the cactophilic...

Drosophila buzzatii and D. koepferae are two sibling species that breed on the necrotic tissues of several cactus species and show a certain degree of niche overlap. Also, they show differences in several life history traits, such as body size and developmental time, which probably evolved as a consequence of adaptation to different host plants. In...

We assessed the indirect response of longevity in lines selected for wing length (WL) and developmental time (DT). Longevity in selection lines was compared to laboratory control lines and the offspring of recently collected females. Wild flies (W lines), flies from lines selected for fast development (F lines), and for fast development and large w...

In the present study, we investigated the intrinsic mortality patterns in Drosophila buzzatii lines selected for wing length (WL) and developmental time (DT), two traits involved in a trade off. Three sets of lines were selected for reduced developmental time, the first was also selected for shortened wing length (S lines), i.e., in the same direct...