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Scarpetta SG. A Palaeogene stem crotaphytid ( Aciprion formosum) and the phylogenetic affinities of early fossil pleurodontan iguanians. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:221139. [PMID: 38204790 PMCID: PMC10776235 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Pleurodonta is an ancient, diverse clade of iguanian lizard distributed primarily in the Western Hemisphere. Although the clade is a frequent subject of systematic research, phylogenetic resolution among the major pleurodontan clades is elusive. That uncertainty has complicated the interpretations of many fossil pleurodontans. I describe a fossil skull of a pleurodontan lizard from the Palaeogene of Wyoming that was previously allocated to the puzzling taxon Aciprion formosum, and provide an updated morphological matrix for iguanian lizards. Phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference demonstrate that the fossil skull is the oldest and first definitive stem member of Crotaphytidae (collared and leopard lizards), establishing the presence of that clade in North America during the Palaeogene. I also discuss new or revised hypotheses for the relationships of several early pleurodontans. In particular, I examine potential evidence for crown-Pleurodonta in the Cretaceous of Mongolia (Polrussia), stem Pleurodonta in the Cretaceous of North America (Magnuviator) and a stem anole in the Eocene of North America (Afairiguana). I suggest that the placement of the fossil crotaphytid is stable to the uncertain phylogeny of Pleurodonta, but recognize the dynamic nature of fossil diagnosis and the potential for updated systematic hypotheses for the other fossils analysed here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon G. Scarpetta
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley, 3101 UC Berkeley Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Department of Environmental Science, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA
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Eliades SJ, Brown JC, Colston TJ, Fisher RN, Niukula JB, Gray K, Vadada J, Rasalato S, Siler CD. Gut microbial ecology of the Critically Endangered Fijian crested iguana ( Brachylophus vitiensis): Effects of captivity status and host reintroduction on endogenous microbiomes. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:4731-4743. [PMID: 33976843 PMCID: PMC8093715 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals often exhibit distinct microbial communities when maintained in captivity as compared to when in the wild. Such differentiation may be significant in headstart and reintroduction programs where individuals spend some time in captivity before release into native habitats. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we (i) assessed differences in gut microbial communities between captive and wild Fijian crested iguanas (Brachylophus vitiensis) and (ii) resampled gut microbiota in captive iguanas released onto a native island to monitor microbiome restructuring in the wild. We used both cloacal swabs and fecal samples to further increase our understanding of gut microbial ecology in this IUCN Critically Endangered species. We found significant differentiation in gut microbial community composition and structure between captive and wild iguanas in both sampling schemes. Approximately two months postrelease, microbial communities in cloacal samples from formerly captive iguanas closely resembled wild counterparts. Interestingly, microbial communities in fecal samples from these individuals remained significantly distinct from wild conspecifics. Our results indicate that captive upbringings can lead to differences in microbial assemblages in headstart iguanas as compared to wild individuals even after host reintroduction into native conditions. This investigation highlights the necessity of continuous monitoring of reintroduced animals in the wild to ensure successful acclimatization and release.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel J. Eliades
- Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Department of BiologyUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
| | - Joseph C. Brown
- Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Department of BiologyUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
- Hope Zoo Preservation FoundationKingstonJamaica
| | | | - Robert N. Fisher
- Western Ecological Research CenterU.S. Geological SurveySan DiegoCaliforniaUSA
| | | | - Kim Gray
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife AllianceSan DiegoCaliforniaUSA
| | | | | | - Cameron D. Siler
- Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Department of BiologyUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
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Kim S, de Medeiros BAS, Byun BK, Lee S, Kang JH, Lee B, Farrell BD. West meets East: How do rainforest beetles become circum-Pacific? Evolutionary origin of Callipogon relictus and allied species (Cerambycidae: Prioninae) in the New and Old Worlds. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2018. [PMID: 29524651 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.02.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The longhorn beetle genus Callipogon Audinet-Serville represents a small group of large wood-boring beetles whose distribution pattern exhibits a unique trans-Pacific disjunction between the East Asian temperate rainforest and the tropical rainforest of the Neotropics. To understand the biogeographic history underlying this circum-Pacific disjunct distribution, we reconstructed a molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Prioninae with extensive sampling of Callipogon using multilocus sequence data of 99 prionine and four parandrine samples (ingroups), together with two distant outgroup species. Our sampling of Callipogon includes 18 of the 24 currently accepted species, with complete representation of all species in our focal subgenera. Our phylogenetic analyses confirmed the purported affinity between the Palearctic Callipogon relictus and its Neotropical congeners. Furthermore, based on molecular dating under the fossilized birth-death (FBD) model with comprehensive fossil records and probabilistic ancestral range reconstructions, we estimated the crown group Callipogon to have originated in the Paleocene circa 60 million years ago (Ma) across the Neotropics and Eastern Palearctics. The divergence between the Palearctic C. relictus and its Neotropical congeners is explained as the result of a vicariance event following the demise of boreotropical forest across Beringia at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. As C. relictus represents the unique relictual species that evidentiates the lineage's expansive ancient distribution, we evaluated its conservation importance through species distribution modelling. Though we estimated a range expansion for C. relictus by 2050, we emphasize a careful implementation of conservation programs towards the protection of primary forest across its current habitats, as the species remains highly vulnerable to habitat disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sangil Kim
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Bruno A S de Medeiros
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Bong-Kyu Byun
- Department of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Hannam University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Seunghwan Lee
- Laboratory of Insect Biosystematics, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung-Hoon Kang
- National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Administration, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Bongwoo Lee
- Division of Forest Biodiversity, Korea National Arboretum, Pocheon, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Brian D Farrell
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
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4
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Malone CL, Reynoso VH, Buckley L. Never judge an iguana by its spines: Systematics of the Yucatan spiny tailed iguana, Ctenosaura defensor (Cope, 1866). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2017; 115:27-39. [PMID: 28716742 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2016] [Revised: 06/13/2017] [Accepted: 07/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Spiny tailed iguanas are highly diverse clade of lizards in Mesoamerica, ranging from northern Mexico through Panama. Utilizing 2 regions of mitochondrial DNA (1948bp) and 4 nuclear loci (2232bp) we explored the relationships between these species and the phylogeographic history of the major clades. We discovered that the lineage endemic to the Yucatan Peninsula renders the genus Ctenosaura paraphyletic. To resolve this non-monophyly, we resurrect the taxon Cachryx Cope, 1866, and provide a new diagnosis for the genus. We also find that small body-size and highly spinose tails in the species previously referred to the subgenus Enyaliosaurus, have evolved independently 3 times. Cachryx were recovered as sister to the lineage of iguanines endemic to the Galapagos Islands, and we discuss biogeographic scenarios to explain this relationship as well as those among the primary clades of Ctenosaura in Mesoamerica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine L Malone
- Department of Biology, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT 84058, United States.
| | - Víctor Hugo Reynoso
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México C.P. 04510, Mexico.
| | - Larry Buckley
- Thomas H. Gosnell School of Science and Math, Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, United States.
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5
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Gustafson GT, Miller KB. Systematics and evolution of the whirligig beetle tribe Dineutini (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae: Gyrininae). Zool J Linn Soc 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlw014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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Pyron RA. Biogeographic Analysis Reveals Ancient Continental Vicariance and Recent Oceanic Dispersal in Amphibians. Syst Biol 2014; 63:779-97. [DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syu042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 227] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- R. Alexander Pyron
- Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, 2023 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA
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Okada A, Suzuki H, Inaba M, Horikoshi K, Shindo J. Genetic Structure and Cryptic Genealogy of the Bonin Flying FoxPteropus pselaphonRevealed by Mitochondrial DNA and Microsatellite Markers. ACTA CHIROPTEROLOGICA 2014. [DOI: 10.3161/150811014x683237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Eldridge MDB, Meek PD, Johnson RN. Taxonomic uncertainty and the loss of biodiversity on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2014; 28:572-579. [PMID: 24283832 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2013] [Accepted: 06/15/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The taxonomic uniqueness of island populations is often uncertain which hinders effective prioritization for conservation. The Christmas Island shrew (Crocidura attenuata trichura) is the only member of the highly speciose eutherian family Soricidae recorded from Australia. It is currently classified as a subspecies of the Asian gray or long-tailed shrew (C. attenuata), although it was originally described as a subspecies of the southeast Asian white-toothed shrew (C. fuliginosa). The Christmas Island shrew is currently listed as endangered and has not been recorded in the wild since 1984-1985, when 2 specimens were collected after an 80-year absence. We aimed to obtain DNA sequence data for cytochrome b (cytb) from Christmas Island shrew museum specimens to determine their taxonomic affinities and to confirm the identity of the 1980s specimens. The Cytb sequences from 5, 1898 specimens and a 1985 specimen were identical. In addition, the Christmas Island shrew cytb sequence was divergent at the species level from all available Crocidura cytb sequences. Rather than a population of a widespread species, current evidence suggests the Christmas Island shrew is a critically endangered endemic species, C. trichura, and a high priority for conservation. As the decisions typically required to save declining species can be delayed or deferred if the taxonomic status of the population in question is uncertain, it is hoped that the history of the Christmas Island shrew will encourage the clarification of taxonomy to be seen as an important first step in initiating informed and effective conservation action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark D B Eldridge
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 6 College St, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia.
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9
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Monod L, Prendini L. Evidence for Eurogondwana: the roles of dispersal, extinction and vicariance in the evolution and biogeography of Indo-Pacific Hormuridae (Scorpiones: Scorpionoidea). Cladistics 2014; 31:71-111. [DOI: 10.1111/cla.12067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/17/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Lionel Monod
- Département des arthropodes et d'entomologie I; Muséum d'histoire naturelle; Route de Malagnou 1 1208 Genève Switzerland
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology; American Museum of Natural History; Central Park West at 79th Street New York NY 10024-5192 USA
| | - Lorenzo Prendini
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology; American Museum of Natural History; Central Park West at 79th Street New York NY 10024-5192 USA
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Morrison SF, Biciloa P, Harlow PS, Keogh JS. Spatial ecology of the critically endangered Fijian crested iguana, Brachylophus vitiensis, in an extremely dense population: implications for conservation. PLoS One 2013; 8:e73127. [PMID: 24019902 PMCID: PMC3760881 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0073127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2013] [Accepted: 07/17/2013] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The Critically Endangered Fijian crested iguana, Brachylophus vitiensis, occurs at extreme density at only one location, with estimates of >10,000 iguanas living on the 70 hectare island of Yadua Taba in Fiji. We conducted a mark and recapture study over two wet seasons, investigating the spatial ecology and intraspecific interactions of the strictly arboreal Fijian crested iguana. This species exhibits moderate male-biased sexual size dimorphism, which has been linked in other lizard species to territoriality, aggression and larger male home ranges. We found that male Fijian crested iguanas exhibit high injury levels, indicative of frequent aggressive interactions. We did not find support for larger home range size in adult males relative to adult females, however male and female residents were larger than roaming individuals. Males with established home ranges also had larger femoral pores relative to body size than roaming males. Home range areas were small in comparison to those of other iguana species, and we speculate that the extreme population density impacts considerably on the spatial ecology of this population. There was extensive home range overlap within and between sexes. Intersexual overlap was greater than intrasexual overlap for both sexes, and continuing male-female pairings were observed among residents. Our results suggest that the extreme population density necessitates extensive home range overlap even though the underlying predictors of territoriality, such as male biased sexual size dimorphism and high aggression levels, remain. Our findings should be factored in to conservation management efforts for this species, particularly in captive breeding and translocation programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne F. Morrison
- Division of Evolution, Ecology & Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Pita Biciloa
- National Trust of Fiji Islands, Government Buildings, Suva, Fiji
| | - Peter S. Harlow
- Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Mosman, NSW, Australia
| | - J. Scott Keogh
- Division of Evolution, Ecology & Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- * E-mail:
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Understanding the formation of ancient intertropical disjunct distributions using Asian and Neotropical hinged-teeth snakes (Sibynophis and Scaphiodontophis: Serpentes: Colubridae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2012; 66:254-61. [PMID: 23044403 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2012.09.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2012] [Revised: 09/18/2012] [Accepted: 09/26/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Numerous taxa show ancient intertropical disjunct distributions. Many can be explained by well-known processes of historical vicariance, such as the breakup of Gondwanaland. Others, such as Asian-Neotropical divergences are not as well understood. To clarify the phylogenetic position and understand biogeographic and temporal origins of the geographically disjunct and morphologically unique genera of hinged-teeth snakes, Scaphiodontophis (n=1) and Sibynophis (n=9; Colubridae), we inferred a time-calibrated phylogeny with additional 107 taxa representing the superfamily Colubroidea using four genes (c-mos, cyt-b, ND2, RAG-1; 3085 bp). We used this tree to estimate ancestral areas for the group. The results show that Scaphiodontophis is sister to Sibynophis, both originated in the late Eocene/Oligocene in Asia and likely dispersed through Beringia to the New World, but unlike other snake groups left no extant species in temperate North America. Current recognition of Scaphiodontophiinae renders Colubrinae paraphyletic, and we resurrect the previously named subfamily Sibynophiinae to encompass both genera and use the tribes Sibynophiini (Sibynophis) and Scaphiodontophiini (Scaphiodontophis) to highlight the geographically distinct areas occupied by these taxa. These results suggest that intercontinental dispersal with extinction in intermediate areas can explain puzzling patterns of ancient intertropical disjunct distributions.
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12
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Sharma PP, Giribet G. Out of the Neotropics: Late Cretaceous colonization of Australasia by American arthropods. Proc Biol Sci 2012; 279:3501-9. [PMID: 22628468 PMCID: PMC3396899 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.0675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2012] [Accepted: 05/03/2012] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The origins of tropical southwest Pacific diversity are traditionally attributed to southeast Asia or Australia. Oceanic and fragment islands are typically colonized by lineages from adjacent continental margins, resulting in attrition of diversity with distance from the mainland. Here, we show that an exceptional tropical family of harvestmen with a trans-Pacific disjunct distribution has its origin in the Neotropics. We found in a multi-locus phylogenetic analysis that the opilionid family Zalmoxidae, which is distributed in tropical forests on both sides of the Pacific, is a monophyletic entity with basal lineages endemic to Amazonia and Mesoamerica. Indo-Pacific Zalmoxidae constitute a nested clade, indicating a single colonization event. Lineages endemic to putative source regions, including Australia and New Guinea, constitute derived groups. Divergence time estimates and probabilistic ancestral area reconstructions support a Neotropical origin of the group, and a Late Cretaceous (ca 82 Ma) colonization of Australasia out of the Fiji Islands and/or Borneo, which are consistent with a transoceanic dispersal event. Our results suggest that the endemic diversity within traditionally defined zoogeographic boundaries might have more complex evolutionary origins than previously envisioned.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant P Sharma
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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Cryptic extinction of a common Pacific lizard Emoia impar (Squamata, Scincidae) from the Hawaiian Islands. ORYX 2012. [DOI: 10.1017/s0030605310001778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractMost documented declines of tropical reptiles are of dramatic or enigmatic species. Declines of widespread species tend to be cryptic. The early (1900s) decline and extinction of the common Pacific skink Emoia impar from the Hawaiian Islands is documented here through an assessment of literature, museum vouchers and recent fieldwork. This decline appears contemporaneous with the documented declines of invertebrates and birds across the Hawaiian Islands. A review of the plausible causal factors indicates that the spread of the introduced big-headed ant Pheidole megacephala is the most likely factor in this lizard decline. The introduction and spread of a similar skink Lampropholis delicata across the islands appears to temporally follow the decline of E. impar, although there is no evidence of competition between these species. It appears that L. delicata is spreading to occupy the niche vacated by the extirpated E. impar. Further confusion exists because the skink E. cyanura, which is very similar in appearance to E. impar, appears to have been introduced to one site within a hotel on Kaua'i and persisted as a population at that site for approximately 2 decades (1970s–1990s) but is now also extirpated. This study highlights the cryptic nature of this early species extinction as evidence that current biogeographical patterns of non-charismatic or enigmatic reptiles across the Pacific may be the historical result of early widespread invasion by ants. Conservation and restoration activities for reptiles in the tropical Pacific should consider this possibility and evaluate all evidence prior to any implementation.
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Townsend TM, Leavitt DH, Reeder TW. Intercontinental dispersal by a microendemic burrowing reptile (Dibamidae). Proc Biol Sci 2011; 278:2568-74. [PMID: 21270029 PMCID: PMC3136834 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2010] [Accepted: 12/22/2010] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Intercontinental dispersal via land bridge connections has been important in the biogeographic history of many Holarctic plant and animal groups. Likewise, some groups appear to have accomplished trans-oceanic dispersal via rafting. Dibamid lizards are a clade of poorly known fossorial, essentially limbless species traditionally split into two geographically disjunct genera: Dibamus comprises approximately 20 Southeast Asian species, many of which have very limited geographical distributions, and the monotypic genus Anelytropsis occupies a small area of northeastern Mexico. Although no formal phylogeny of the group exists, a sister-taxon relationship between the two genera has been assumed based on biogeographic considerations. We used DNA sequence data from one mitochondrial and six nuclear protein-coding genes to construct a phylogeny of Dibamidae and to estimate divergence times within the group. Surprisingly, sampled Dibamus species form two deeply divergent, morphologically conserved and geographically concordant clades, one of which is the sister taxon of Anelytropsis papillosus. Our analyses indicate Palaearctic to Nearctic Beringian dispersal in the Late Palaeocene to Eocene. Alternatively, a trans-Pacific rafting scenario would extend the upper limit on dispersal to the Late Cretaceous. Either scenario constitutes a remarkable long-distance dispersal in what would seem an unlikely candidate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ted M Townsend
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
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15
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Goldberg SR, Bursey CR, Hamilton AM, Austin CC. Gastrointestinal helminth communities of two gekkonid lizard species,Nactus multicarinatusandNactus pelagicus(Squamata: Gekkonidae), from the Republic of Vanuatu, Oceania. J NAT HIST 2011. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2011.574737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Murienne J, Edgecombe GD, Giribet G. Comparative phylogeography of the centipedes Cryptops pictus and C. niuensis (Chilopoda) in New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu. ORG DIVERS EVOL 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-011-0041-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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17
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HAMILTON ALISONM, ZUG GEORGER, AUSTIN CHRISTOPHERC. Biogeographic anomaly or human introduction: a cryptogenic population of tree skink (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Cook Islands, Oceania. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01437.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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18
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Noonan BP, Sites JW. Tracing the origins of iguanid lizards and boine snakes of the pacific. Am Nat 2010; 175:61-72. [PMID: 19929634 DOI: 10.1086/648607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
In 1947, when Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki hit ground in the Tuamotu archipelago, 102 days and approximately 4,000 km from its point of origin in South America, he inadvertently provided support for one of the most remarkable hypotheses of vertebrate dispersal. Iguanid lizards and boine snakes are ancient Gondwanan lineages whose distribution has been demonstrated to have been influenced by continental drift. Their enigmatic presence on the islands of the Pacific, however, has drawn fantastical conclusions of more than 8,000-km rafting from the Americas. We reexamine the hypothesis of dispersal in light of new molecular data and divergence time estimates. Our results suggest an early Paleogene (50-60 million years) divergence of these groups and the plausibility of an Asiatic or Australian (over land) source. Because the subfossil record indicates that iguanas (but not snakes) were a primary food source of island inhabitants, the absence of these species from islands with a longer history of human presence is unsurprising. Together these findings are taken as evidence of the influence humans have had on these taxa and are put forth as an example of anthropogenic obfuscation of biogeographic history. We suggest that this history is one of terrestrial connections permitting the colonization of the islands of the Pacific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brice P Noonan
- Department of Biology, Box 1848, University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677, USA.
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Trewick SA, Cowie RH. Introduction. Evolution on Pacific islands: Darwin's legacy. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2008; 363:3289-91. [PMID: 18765364 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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