Biogeographic links between southern Atlantic Forest and western South America: Rediscovery, re-description, and phylogenetic relationships of two rare montane anole lizards from Brazil

Journal of Biogeography

Grazziotin

et al. 2018

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Aim To examine historical connections between rain forest habitats in the Neotropics based on the evolutionary history of the arboreal pit viper Bothrops bilineatus. Location Amazonia and Atlantic Forest in South America. Methods We inferred phylogenetic relationships within Bothrops and phylogeographic relationships within B. bilineatus using both concatenated and species tree approaches under a Bayesian framework based on four mitochondrial and five nuclear genes. We inferred demographic history within B. bilineatus based on tests of alternative historical scenarios using coalescent simulations and Approximate Bayesian Computation. Results Phylogenetic analyses recovered four major clades within Bothrops bilineatus. The best‐fit historical scenario involved colonization of the Atlantic Forest by an Amazonian ancestor around 2 Mya, followed by range expansion in the Atlantic Forest. Subsequently, there was a colonization event into the Guiana Shield from an Atlantic Forest ancestor, dating back to around 0.3 Mya. Main conclusion The complex demographic history of Bothrops bilineatus shows multiple connection events between Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest in the last 2 million years. Two previously hypothesized forest bridges, southern and northeastern, may have been involved in range expansions in this species. These results shed light on the historical processes involved in the diversification of this venomous South American snake, providing information about the historical dynamism of forested habitats in the Neotropics.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Phylogeography and historical demography of the arboreal pit viper Bothrops bilineatus (Serpentes, Crotalinae) reveal multiple connections between Amazonian and Atlantic rain forests

Vechio

Journal of Biogeography

Grazziotin

et al. 2018

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“…A history of past forest connections and separation has been invoked to explain presently disjunct distributions in a variety of organisms (Birds: Batalha‐Filho et al, ; Mammals: Costa, ; Nascimento, Bonvicino, Oliveira, Schneider, & Seuãnez, ; Pavan, Martins, Santos, Ditchfield, & Redondo, ; Lizards: Pellegrino et al, ; Rodrigues et al, ; Prates et al, ; Prates, Rivera, et al, ; Prates, Xue, et al, ; Prates et al, , 2018; Snakes: Zamudio & Greene, ; Dal Vechio et al, ). However, studies based on genetic data have found incongruent times, spatial routes and directionalities of forest colonization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proposed historical corridors between Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest include northern bridges through the dry Caatinga in present‐day north‐eastern Brazil and along Brazil's northern coast (Mammals: Costa, ; Lizards: Pellegrino, Rodrigues, Harris, Yonenaga‐Yassuda, & Sites, ; Prates, Rivera, et al, , Prates, Xue, et al, ; Birds: Batalha‐Filho, Fjeldsa, Fabre, & Miyaki, ; Snakes: Puorto et al, ; Dal Vechio et al, ), as well as southern bridges between south‐western Amazonia and the southern Atlantic Forest (Mammals: Costa, ; Lizards: Prates et al, ; Birds: Batalha‐Filho et al, ; Snakes: Dal Vechio et al, ). These forest corridors may have been established at different times in the past, with evidence of northern connections during the Pleistocene and southern ones over the Miocene (Batalha‐Filho et al, ; Dal Vechio et al, ; Ledo & Colli, ; Prates et al, ; Prates, Rivera, et al, ). Colonizations may have been bidirectional, from Amazonia into the Atlantic Forest and vice versa (Dal Vechio et al, ; Prates, Rivera, et al, ; Rodrigues et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rain forest shifts through time and riverine barriers shaped the diversification of South American terrestrial pit vipers (Bothrops jararacussu species group)

Vechio

Journal of Biogeography

Grazziotin³

et al. 2019

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Aim To investigate (a) historical biogeographical connections and species interchange among rain forest habitats and (b) the role of riverine barriers on population divergence and speciation in the Neotropical region. Location Amazonia and Atlantic Forest in South America. Taxon Bothrops jararacussu species group (Serpentes: Viperidae). Methods We inferred phylogenetic relationships within Bothrops with an emphasis on the jararacussu species group under a Bayesian framework based on six molecular loci. We also used genetic coalescent simulations and approximate Bayesian computation to infer historical demography within the jararacussu group based on tests of alternative scenarios. Results We found the jararacussu species group to be monophyletic. The Atlantic Forest species B. pirajai and B. muriciensis were inferred nested within this group, closely related to B. jararacussu, confirming that Atlantic Forest species form a clade. The historical demographic analyses support vicariant separation between populations of B. brazili north and south of the Amazon River during the Miocene–Pliocene border, as well as colonization of the Atlantic Forest by a northern Amazonian ancestor in the Pleistocene. Main Conclusion The evolutionary history of the jararacussu species group sheds light on the dynamism of Neotropical rain forests over time, with at least one event of forest expansion leading to faunal interchange between Amazonian and Atlantic forests in the Pleistocene. Moreover, tests of alternative demographic scenarios suggest that the populations of B. brazili from north and south of the Amazon River originated from a vicariant event during the Miocene–Pliocene border, in agreement with the proposed age of establishment of the modern Amazon River drainage. Our results also have taxonomic implications for these medically important venomous snakes, supporting unrecognized diversity at the species level.

Local adaptation in mainland anole lizards: Integrating population history and genome–environment associations

Penna

Rodrigues

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Environmental gradients constrain physiological performance and thus species’ ranges, suggesting that species occurrence in diverse environments may be associated with local adaptation. Genome–environment association analyses (GEAA) have become central for studies of local adaptation, yet they are sensitive to the spatial orientation of historical range expansions relative to landscape gradients. To test whether potentially adaptive genotypes occur in varied climates in wide‐ranged species, we implemented GEAA on the basis of genomewide data from the anole lizards Anolis ortonii and Anolis punctatus, which expanded from Amazonia, presently dominated by warm and wet settings, into the cooler and less rainy Atlantic Forest. To examine whether local adaptation has been constrained by population structure and history, we estimated effective population sizes, divergence times, and gene flow under a coalescent framework. In both species, divergence between Amazonian and Atlantic Forest populations dates back to the mid‐Pleistocene, with subsequent gene flow. We recovered eleven candidate genes involved with metabolism, immunity, development, and cell signaling in A. punctatus and found no loci whose frequency is associated with environmental gradients in A. ortonii. Distinct signatures of adaptation between these species are not associated with historical constraints or distinct climatic space occupancies. Similar patterns of spatial structure between selected and neutral SNPs along the climatic gradient, as supported by patterns of genetic clustering in A. punctatus, may have led to conservative GEAA performance. This study illustrates how tests of local adaptation can benefit from knowledge about species histories to support hypothesis formulation, sampling design, and landscape gradient characterization.