Species Limits Based on mtDNA and Morphological Data in the Polytypic Species Plestiodon brevirostris (Squamata: Scincidae)

Fería-Ortíz, Manuel; Manríquez–Morán, Norma L.; de, Adrián Nieto‐Montes

doi:10.1655/herpmonographs-d-10-00010.1

Cited by 15 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Our results based on phylogenetic analyses of over 3,000 genomic loci shed new light on the systematics of the P. brevirostris group and highlight potential areas for future taxonomic research. Additional species‐level diversity may be present within the group, as proposed previously (Feria‐Ortiz et al ., ; Feria‐Ortiz & García‐Vázquez, ). For example, we found both putative subspecies P. l. lynxe and P. l. belli to be genetically distinct.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Assuming only the phylogenetic placement of P. sumichrasti is unresolved, our UCE phylogeny differs from previous estimates of phylogenetic relationships among species in the P. brevirostris group based on multilocus (Brandley et al ., , ) and mtDNA (Feria‐Ortiz et al ., ) data. Most notably, P. ochoterenae appears to be more closely related to P. brevirostris and P. indubitus than to P. copei , P. dugesii and P. bilineatus (Brandley et al ., , ; Feria‐Ortiz et al ., ), a finding more consistent with geography. Topological differences are more dramatic between our phylogeny and mtDNA‐based estimates (Feria‐Ortiz et al ., ), although this may be due in part to the large polytomy in the mtDNA tree.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…bilineatus South based on distributional data in Feria‐Ortiz et al . (). All range sizes were constrained to be composed at most of three regions (the most occupied by any extant lineage).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…We also sequenced a population of an undescribed species in the group previously confounded with P. indubitus from northern Colima and southern Jalisco (here referred to as ‘ P . indubitus West’), and a morphologically divergent population of P. bilineatus from Jalisco (‘ P. bilineatus South’) that represents another possibly undescribed species (Feria‐Ortiz et al ., ; Brandley et al ., ; Feria‐Ortiz & García‐Vázquez, ). We included P. tetragrammus as an outgroup (Brandley et al ., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A phylogenomic perspective on the biogeography of skinks in the Plestiodon brevirostris group inferred from target enrichment of ultraconserved elements

Bryson

Linkem

Pavón‐Vázquez

et al. 2017

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim The aim of our study was to reconstruct ancestral geographic distributions from time‐calibrated phylogenies generated from phylogenomic data to answer three broad questions about the biogeography of skinks in the Plestiodon brevirostris group: (1) Are biogeographic patterns correlated with the formation of the Trans‐Mexican Volcanic Belt? (2) Do different methods of phylogenetic estimation result in different topologies? If so, (3) are biogeographic reconstructions impacted by the use of different phylogenetic trees? Location Mexico. Methods We used target enrichment of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) to obtain sequence data from 58 skinks representing 11 of the 13 described species in the group. We estimated time‐calibrated phylogenies using concatenated and multispecies coalescent phylogenetic approaches. We used these phylogenies to reconstruct ancestral geographic distributions. Results The final dataset contained 3,282 UCEs from each skink. Samples of each putative species formed well‐supported clades in phylogenetic trees. Time‐calibrated phylogenies estimated using concatenated and multispecies coalescent methods were generally congruent, but differed in the placement of one basal relationship. Divergences in the P. brevirostris group were temporally and spatially congruent with the pre‐Pleistocene formation of the Trans‐Mexican Volcanic Belt. The group most likely colonized the Mexican highlands from east to west during the Late Miocene and Pliocene. Inferences about the early biogeographic history of the group were confounded by the unresolved placement of a key phylogenetic relationship deep in the phylogeny. Conclusions Skinks in the P. brevirostris group represent another example of a widespread montane Mexican taxon with a long history of pre‐Pleistocene diversification associated with the primary formation of the Trans‐Mexican Volcanic Belt. This mountain range seems to have been both a cradle of diversification for P. brevirostris group species and a land bridge facilitating dispersal across the Mexican highlands. Our results highlight the probable existence of new species within the P. brevirostris complex and suggest that querying a large portion of the genome may be critically important for studying the biogeographic history of these skinks. However, inferred differences between the concatenated and multispecies coalescent phylogenies, and the different biogeographic histories of the P. brevirostris group reconstructed from these phylogenies, caution that methods of estimating phylogenetic trees used in biogeographic reconstructions need to be carefully considered.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A phylogenomic perspective on the biogeography of skinks in the Plestiodon brevirostris group inferred from target enrichment of ultraconserved elements

Bryson

Linkem

Pavón‐Vázquez

et al. 2017

Journal of Biogeography

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“…DNA sequences) have revealed that many subspecies actually represent distinct species (e.g. Mulcahy et al ., ; Schulte, Macey & Papenfuss, ; Pyron & Burbrink, ; Feria‐Ortiz, Manríquez‐Morán & Nieto‐Montes de Oca, ; Glor & Laport, ). Thus, although the diversity was recognized morphologically, embracing the biological polytypic species concept resulted in its inappropriate classification, with the consequent concealment of substantial species diversity (Wiens, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long forsaken species diversity in the Middle American lizardHolcosus undulatus(Teiidae)

Meza-Lázaro

2015

Zool J Linn Soc

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Numerous reptile species have been divided into subspecies. Although this classification may capture the morphological variation within species, it often conceals significant species diversity because many subspecies actually represent species under lineage-based species concepts. The lizard Holcosus undulatus is a common, widely distributed, monotypic species in Middle America. However, 12 subspecies of this taxon were recognized until the early 1970s. We used two lineage-based methods for species delimitation to re-evaluate species limits within H. undulatus with DNA sequence and morphological data. We included all the previously recognized subspecies of H. undulatus except H. u. miadis. Holcosus undulatus was exclusive. In addition, Hand H. u. undulatus were supported as distinct evolutionary lineages based on the molecular and morphological evidence. We therefore elevate all of these subspecies to species rank. In addition, two separate mitochondrial lineages may represent cryptic, undescribed species within H. undulatus. The morphological distinctness and allopatry of H. u. miadis and H. u. pulcher, as well as the high genetic divergence of the latter species, suggest that they also represent distinct evolutionary species. Our results also suggest that additional species diversity may still be hidden within the H. u. amphigrammus, H. u. parvus, H. u. sinister and H. u. undulatus lineages. This work supports resurrection of overlooked diversity within Holcosus, which has important implications for the conservation of this genus in Middle America.

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Placentation in the Mexican scincid lizard Plestiodon brevirostris (Squamata: Scincidae)

Vázquez-García

Villagrán‐SantaCruz

2023

Journal of Morphology

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Viviparity is the reproductive pattern in which females gestate eggs within their reproductive tract to complete their development and give birth to live offspring.Within extant sauropsids, only the Squamata (e.g., snakes, lizards, and amphisbaenians) evolved viviparity, representing 20% of the existing species. The genus Plestiodon is represented by 43 species and is one of the most widely distributed genera of the Scincidae in Mexico. The goal of this research has been to determine the placental morphology and ontogeny during gestation in the lizard Plestiodon brevirostris. Specimens were dissected to obtain the embryonic chambers and the embryos were categorized to carry out the correlation between the development stage and the placenta development. The embryonic chambers were processed using the conventional histological technique for light microscopy. The identified embryonic stages were 4, 29, 34, 36, and 39. A thin eggshell surrounds the egg in early developmental stages; however, this structure is already absent in the embryonic hemisphere during the developmental stage 29. The results revealed that P. brevirostris is a lecithotrophic species, but a close maternal-fetal relationship is established by tissue apposition. Ontogenically, the placental types that form in the embryonic hemisphere are the chorioplacenta, choriovitelline placenta, and chorioallantoic placenta; whereas the omphaloplacenta is formed in the abembryonic hemisphere. The structure of the chorioallantoic placenta in P. brevirostris suggests that it may play a role during gas exchange between the mother and the embryo, due to the characteristics of the epithelia that comprise it. The structure of embryonic and maternal epithelia of the omphaloplacenta suggests a role in the absorption of the eggshell during gestation and possibly in the transport or diffusion of some nutrients. In general, it is evident that ontogeny and placental characteristics of P. brevirostris match those of other species of viviparous lecithotrophic scincids.

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Species Limits Based on mtDNA and Morphological Data in the Polytypic Species Plestiodon brevirostris (Squamata: Scincidae)

Cited by 15 publications

References 30 publications

A phylogenomic perspective on the biogeography of skinks in the Plestiodon brevirostris group inferred from target enrichment of ultraconserved elements

A phylogenomic perspective on the biogeography of skinks in the Plestiodon brevirostris group inferred from target enrichment of ultraconserved elements

Long forsaken species diversity in the Middle American lizardHolcosus undulatus(Teiidae)

Placentation in the Mexican scincid lizard Plestiodon brevirostris (Squamata: Scincidae)

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