Speciation at the Mogollon Rim in the Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis pyromelana)

Out of the deep: Cryptic speciation in a Neotropical gecko (Squamata, Phyllodactylidae) revealed by species delimitation methods

“…Coalescent-based methods have recently become popular to assist in species delimitation Fujita et al, 2012;Knowles and Carstens, 2007;Yang and Rannala, 2010), especially regarding cryptic speciation in biodiversity hotspots (Nair et al, 2012). Despite the unquestionable value of those methods in assessing cryptic diversity (Leaché and Fujita, 2010), it is advisable to use independent morphological or ecological data to corroborate molecular-based hypotheses of cryptic diversification (Bauer et al, 2011;Burbrink et al, 2011;Sistrom et al, 2012). In this context, morphological data can be used to test the placement of individuals within the reconstructed molecular clades and evaluate the validity of such lineages (Hebert et al, 2004;Sistrom et al, 2013;Tan et al, 2010).…”

Amphibians and Reptiles of the Madrean Archipelago of Arizona and New Mexico

“…These composites include: Sceloporus magister (includes S. bimaculosus and S. magister of Schulte et al, 2006, but suggested by Leaché and Mulcahy, 2007, to represent a single species); Aspidoscelis sonorae (includes A. flagellicauda and A. sonorae of Lowe and Wright, 1964); Hypsiglena torquata (includes H. chlorophaea, H. jani, and H. "Cochise" of Mulcahy, 2008); and Lampropeltis pyromelana (includes L. knoblochi and L. pyromelana of Burbrink et al, 2011). Owing to sparse sampling in the Madrean region for DNA analyses of the Sceloporus undulatus complex (Leaché and Reeder, 2002) we assigned all populations in the area to S. cowlesi although in some cases they may represent discrete montane and lowland forms that have not yet been teased apart.…”

“…A number of species found in the archipelago have been included in studies of DNA phylogeography, e.g., the Ambystoma tigrinum complex (see Shaffer and McKnight, 1996), Anaxyrus punctatus (see Bryson et al, 2012a), Craugastor augusti (see Goldberg et al, 2004a), Gastrophryne mazatlanensis (see Streicher et al, 2012), Hyla arenicolor (see Bryson et al, 2010;Klymus and Gerhardt, 2012), Hyla wrightorum (see Gergus et al, 2004), Lithobates chiricahuensis (see Goldberg et al, 2004b), Phrynosoma hernandesi (see Zamudio et al, 1997), Sceloporus slevini (see Bryson et al, 2012b), the Sceloporus undulatus complex (see Leaché and Reeder, 2002), Sceloporus virgatus (see Tennessen and Zamudio, 2008), Xantusia bezyi (see Sinclair et al, 2004), Crotalus cerberus (see Douglas et al, 2006); Crotalus willardi (see Holycross and Douglas, 2007); Lampropeltis pyromelana (see Burbrink et al, 2011), and Thamnophis rufipunctatus (see Wood et al, 2011). in the majority of these studies, the mountain ranges in the archipelago were too sparsely sampled to evaluate the potential of the gene segments and populations to shed light on the historical biogeography of the region.…”

“…in subsequent work, RFLP data have been used to increase phylogenetic resolution (Klymus and Gerhardt, 2012) and nuclear gene sequences have been examined to clarify the role of hybridization in the phylogeny of the complex (Bryson et al, 2010), but these studies have not significantly altered the composition of the clades found in the archipelago. Burbrink et al (2011) examined phylogeography in Lampropeltis pyromelana using sequences from both nuclear and mitochondrial genes, and concluded that populations associated with the Mogollon Rim and Colorado Plateau (L. pyromelana) diverged from those of the Madrean Archipelago (L. knoblochi) prior to the Pleistocene. Sequences from several southern ranges (Santa Rita, Pajarito, Patagonia, Huachuca, Chiricahua, Peloncillo, and Animas mountains) were examined, but unfortunately the study did not include samples from any of the Arizona ranges that extend north to the rim (Rincon, Santa Catalina, Pinal, Mazatzal, and Sierra Ancha mountains).…”

“…The study also highlights ranges that remain poorly sampled and for which additional field work is needed. We hope this paper will stimulate thorough sampling of populations within the Madrean region for phylogeographic analyses of DNA sequences that may identify repeated phylogenetic patterns within the archipelago (e.g., Barber, 1999;Leaché and Reeder, 2002;Holycross and Douglas, 2007;Tennessen and Zamudio 2008;Burbrink et al, 2011).…”