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Adrian Nietomontes De Oca - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a new species of blue tailed skink scincidae Plestiodon from the sierra madre del sur mexico
Herpetologica, 2021Co-Authors: Uri Omar Garciavazquez, Manuel Feriaortiz, Carlos J Pavonvazquez, Adrian Nietomontes De OcaAbstract:Recent studies on the systematics and phylogeny of the blue-tailed skinks in the Plestiodon brevirostris group identified a population from the Sierra Madre del Sur of eastern Guerrero, Mexico, that appeared to represent an undescribed species. Here, we formally describe this lineage as a new species, compare it with the other species in the P. brevirostris group, identify a specimen from western Oaxaca that belongs to the new species, and provide an updated key to the group. The new species is morphologically similar and closely related to P. ochoterenae, but molecular and morphological data support its evolutionary independence. The new species is distinguished from the other species in the P. brevirostris group, except for P. ochoterenae, by the presence of a primary temporal, a well-defined lateral pale line on the neck, and a well-defined dorsolateral pale line that extends posteriorly to the level of the hind limbs. It differs from P. ochoterenae by having longer limbs and a well-defined lateral pale line on the neck. The present study further highlights the relevance of the Sierra Madre del Sur as a hotspot of endemism and undescribed diversity.
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integrative species delimitation in practice revealing cryptic lineages within the short nosed skink Plestiodon brevirostris squamata scincidae
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2018Co-Authors: Carlos J Pavonvazquez, Manuel Feriaortiz, Uri Omar Garciavazquez, Norma L Manriquezmoran, Robert W Bryson, Adrian Nietomontes De OcaAbstract:Integrative taxonomy has been generally considered as a goal in systematics for more than a decade. Here, we employed environmental, molecular, and morphological data to evaluate the species boundaries within the short-nosed skink Plestiodon brevirostris from south-central Mexico, one member of the morphologically conservative P. brevirostris group. Our molecular dataset includes one mitochondrial and two nuclear loci. The mitochondrial fragment includes the full length of the gene coding for the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 protein, a segment of the gene coding for 16S ribosomal RNA, and flanking tRNAs. The nuclear dataset includes fragments of the genes coding for the megakaryoblastic leukemia 1 and RNA fingerprint 35 proteins. We employed phylogenetic reconstruction, analyses of population structure and morphological variation, and species delimitation methods (including the integration of the three kinds of data in a unified probabilistic framework) to evaluate species limits. Our results suggest that P. brevirostris represents four distinct species. The information provided by each kind of data allowed us to discern between alternative explanations for the observed patterns of geographic structure. Two of the newly recognized lineages are poorly differentiated morphologically but apparently differ in environmental preferences and are allopatric. Additionally, one lineage is microendemic and parapatric with respect to another one. Moreover, our phylogenetic analyses suggest that other taxa within the P. brevirostris group may represent species complexes. We discuss our results in the context of integrative species delimitation.
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a new species of Plestiodon squamata scincidae from the balsas basin mexico
Zootaxa, 2017Co-Authors: Carlos J Pavonvazquez, Adrian Nietomontes De Oca, Andres Alberto Mendozahernandez, Eric Centeneroalcala, Samuel Santa A Cruzpadilla, Victor H JimenezarcosAbstract:We describe a new species of Plestiodon in the P. brevirostris group from the Balsas Basin in central Mexico. It is distinguished from the other species in the group by the following combination of traits: supraoculars four; interparietal enclosed posteriorly by parietals; primary temporal present; seventh supralabial usually contacting upper secondary temporal; longitudinal dorsal scale rows around midbody 23-26; Toe-IV lamellae 13-15; limbs not overlapping when adpressed against body; dorsolateral light line extending posteriorly to level of posterior end of anterior fourth of body or beyond; light median line absent in all growth stages; primary lateral dark lines separated medially by six dorsal scale rows and upper half of adjacent row on each side at level of midbody; lower secondary dark line faint at level of neck; and light coloration of supralabials extending ventrally to lip border. Analyses based on DNA sequences of three loci support the distinctiveness of the new species, as well as its sister species relationship with P. ochoterenae. The Environmental Vulnerability Score of the new species places it in the high vulnerability category.
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the phylogenetic systematics of blue tailed skinks Plestiodon and the family scincidae
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012Co-Authors: Matthew C Brandley, Xianguang Guo, Hidetoshi Ota, Tsutomu Hikida, Adrian Nietomontes De Oca, Manuel Feriaortiz, Yuezhao WangAbstract:Blue-tailed skinks (genus Plestiodon) are a common component of the terrestrial herpetofauna throughout their range in eastern Eurasia and North and Middle America. Plestiodon species are also frequent subjects of ecological and evolutionary research, yet a comprehensive, well-supported phylogenetic framework does not yet exist for this genus. We construct a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Plestiodon using Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of a nine-locus data set comprising 8308 base pairs of DNA, sampled from 38 of the 43 species in the genus. We evaluate potential gene tree/species tree discordance by conducting phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated and individual locus data sets, as well as employing coalescent-based methods. Specifically, we address the placement of Plestiodon within the evolutionary tree of Scincidae, as well as the phylogenetic relationships between Plestiodon species, and their taxonomy. Given our sampling of major Scincidae lineages, we also re-evaluate deep relationships within the family, with the goal of resolving relationships that have been ambiguous in recent molecular phylogenetic analyses. We infer strong support for several scincid relationships, including a major clade of scincines and the inter-relationships of major Mediterranean and southern African genera. Although we could not estimate the precise phylogenetic affinities of Plestiodon with statistically significant support, we nonetheless infer significant support for its inclusion in a large scincine clade exclusive of Acontinae, Lygosominae, Brachymeles, and Ophiomorus. Plestiodon comprises three major geographically cohesive clades. One of these clades is composed of mostly large-bodied species inhabiting northern Indochina, south-eastern China (including Taiwan), and the southern Ryukyu Islands of Japan. The second clade comprises species inhabiting central China (including Taiwan) and the entire Japanese archipelago. The third clade exclusively inhabits North and Middle America and the island of Bermuda. A vast majority of interspecific relationships are strongly supported in the concatenated data analysis, but there is nonetheless significant conflict amongst the individual gene trees. Coalescent-based gene tree/species tree analyses indicate that incongruence amongst the nuclear loci may severely obscure the phylogenetic inter-relationships of the primarily small-bodied Plestiodon species that inhabit the central Mexican highlands. These same analyses do support the sister relationship between Plestiodon marginatus Hallowell, 1861 and Plestiodon stimpsonii (Thompson, 1912), and differ with the mitochondrial DNA analysis that supports Plestiodon elegans (Boulenger, 1887) + P. stimpsonii. Finally, because the existing Plestiodon taxonomy is a poor representation of evolutionary relationships, we replace the existing supraspecific taxonomy with one congruent with our phylogenetic results.
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species limits based on mtdna and morphological data in the polytypic species Plestiodon brevirostris squamata scincidae
Herpetological Monographs, 2011Co-Authors: Manuel Feriaortiz, Norma L Manriquezmoran, Adrian Nietomontes De OcaAbstract:The Mexican Plestiodon brevirostris species group (Squamata: Scincidae) is composed of seven nominal species. The wide-ranging P. brevirostris is a polytypic species composed of five subspecies: P. b. brevirostris, P. b. bilineatus, P. b. dicei, P. b. indubitus, and P. b. pineus. A tree-based approach for species delimitation with mtDNA data was used to test the traditional species-level taxonomy of P. brevirostris preliminarily. A haplotype phylogeny for all of the species and subspecies in the P. brevirostris group, except P. colimensis, was inferred. The mtDNA data consisted of sequences encompassing the genes encoding 16S rRNA (part), ND1, and associated tRNAs (1355 base pairs), which were analyzed with Bayesian methods. Then, a search for diagnostic morphological characters for the putative species delimited by this approach was performed. The results indicate that the P. brevirostris group is paraphyletic with respect to P. lynxe, and that P. brevirostris actually is composed of at least five distinct lineages disguised by traditional taxonomy: P. b. brevirostris, P. b. bilineatus, P. b. dicei, and the eastern populations of P. b indubitus (from Morelos, Guerrero, and Mexico) represent distinct species, whereas the western populations of P. b. indubitus (from Colima and Jalisco) represent an undescribed species. The data cannot resolve whether P. b. pineus is conspecific with P. b. dicei or P. b. dicei is a paraphyletic (5nonexclusive) species relative to an exclusive P. b. pineus. Thus, the status of P. b. pineus remains uncertain. The haplotype phylogeny also suggests that P. b. brevirostris may represent more than one species.
Manuel Feriaortiz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a new species of blue tailed skink scincidae Plestiodon from the sierra madre del sur mexico
Herpetologica, 2021Co-Authors: Uri Omar Garciavazquez, Manuel Feriaortiz, Carlos J Pavonvazquez, Adrian Nietomontes De OcaAbstract:Recent studies on the systematics and phylogeny of the blue-tailed skinks in the Plestiodon brevirostris group identified a population from the Sierra Madre del Sur of eastern Guerrero, Mexico, that appeared to represent an undescribed species. Here, we formally describe this lineage as a new species, compare it with the other species in the P. brevirostris group, identify a specimen from western Oaxaca that belongs to the new species, and provide an updated key to the group. The new species is morphologically similar and closely related to P. ochoterenae, but molecular and morphological data support its evolutionary independence. The new species is distinguished from the other species in the P. brevirostris group, except for P. ochoterenae, by the presence of a primary temporal, a well-defined lateral pale line on the neck, and a well-defined dorsolateral pale line that extends posteriorly to the level of the hind limbs. It differs from P. ochoterenae by having longer limbs and a well-defined lateral pale line on the neck. The present study further highlights the relevance of the Sierra Madre del Sur as a hotspot of endemism and undescribed diversity.
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integrative species delimitation in practice revealing cryptic lineages within the short nosed skink Plestiodon brevirostris squamata scincidae
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2018Co-Authors: Carlos J Pavonvazquez, Manuel Feriaortiz, Uri Omar Garciavazquez, Norma L Manriquezmoran, Robert W Bryson, Adrian Nietomontes De OcaAbstract:Integrative taxonomy has been generally considered as a goal in systematics for more than a decade. Here, we employed environmental, molecular, and morphological data to evaluate the species boundaries within the short-nosed skink Plestiodon brevirostris from south-central Mexico, one member of the morphologically conservative P. brevirostris group. Our molecular dataset includes one mitochondrial and two nuclear loci. The mitochondrial fragment includes the full length of the gene coding for the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 protein, a segment of the gene coding for 16S ribosomal RNA, and flanking tRNAs. The nuclear dataset includes fragments of the genes coding for the megakaryoblastic leukemia 1 and RNA fingerprint 35 proteins. We employed phylogenetic reconstruction, analyses of population structure and morphological variation, and species delimitation methods (including the integration of the three kinds of data in a unified probabilistic framework) to evaluate species limits. Our results suggest that P. brevirostris represents four distinct species. The information provided by each kind of data allowed us to discern between alternative explanations for the observed patterns of geographic structure. Two of the newly recognized lineages are poorly differentiated morphologically but apparently differ in environmental preferences and are allopatric. Additionally, one lineage is microendemic and parapatric with respect to another one. Moreover, our phylogenetic analyses suggest that other taxa within the P. brevirostris group may represent species complexes. We discuss our results in the context of integrative species delimitation.
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a new species of Plestiodon squamata scincidae from sierra madre del sur of guerrero mexico
Zootaxa, 2012Co-Authors: Manuel Feriaortiz, Uri Omar GarciavazquezAbstract:We describe a new species of lizard of the genus Plestiodon from the Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero, Mexico. Plestiodon nietoi sp. nov. shares a characteristic with all members of the P. brevirostris group in that the scale that medially bordersthe postgenial is wider than long. This species is most similar to P. brevirostris and P. indubitus from which it differs byhaving the following combination of characters: large adult size, interparietal enclosed posteriorly by parietals, and a pale lateral line on the neck.
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the phylogenetic systematics of blue tailed skinks Plestiodon and the family scincidae
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012Co-Authors: Matthew C Brandley, Xianguang Guo, Hidetoshi Ota, Tsutomu Hikida, Adrian Nietomontes De Oca, Manuel Feriaortiz, Yuezhao WangAbstract:Blue-tailed skinks (genus Plestiodon) are a common component of the terrestrial herpetofauna throughout their range in eastern Eurasia and North and Middle America. Plestiodon species are also frequent subjects of ecological and evolutionary research, yet a comprehensive, well-supported phylogenetic framework does not yet exist for this genus. We construct a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Plestiodon using Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of a nine-locus data set comprising 8308 base pairs of DNA, sampled from 38 of the 43 species in the genus. We evaluate potential gene tree/species tree discordance by conducting phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated and individual locus data sets, as well as employing coalescent-based methods. Specifically, we address the placement of Plestiodon within the evolutionary tree of Scincidae, as well as the phylogenetic relationships between Plestiodon species, and their taxonomy. Given our sampling of major Scincidae lineages, we also re-evaluate deep relationships within the family, with the goal of resolving relationships that have been ambiguous in recent molecular phylogenetic analyses. We infer strong support for several scincid relationships, including a major clade of scincines and the inter-relationships of major Mediterranean and southern African genera. Although we could not estimate the precise phylogenetic affinities of Plestiodon with statistically significant support, we nonetheless infer significant support for its inclusion in a large scincine clade exclusive of Acontinae, Lygosominae, Brachymeles, and Ophiomorus. Plestiodon comprises three major geographically cohesive clades. One of these clades is composed of mostly large-bodied species inhabiting northern Indochina, south-eastern China (including Taiwan), and the southern Ryukyu Islands of Japan. The second clade comprises species inhabiting central China (including Taiwan) and the entire Japanese archipelago. The third clade exclusively inhabits North and Middle America and the island of Bermuda. A vast majority of interspecific relationships are strongly supported in the concatenated data analysis, but there is nonetheless significant conflict amongst the individual gene trees. Coalescent-based gene tree/species tree analyses indicate that incongruence amongst the nuclear loci may severely obscure the phylogenetic inter-relationships of the primarily small-bodied Plestiodon species that inhabit the central Mexican highlands. These same analyses do support the sister relationship between Plestiodon marginatus Hallowell, 1861 and Plestiodon stimpsonii (Thompson, 1912), and differ with the mitochondrial DNA analysis that supports Plestiodon elegans (Boulenger, 1887) + P. stimpsonii. Finally, because the existing Plestiodon taxonomy is a poor representation of evolutionary relationships, we replace the existing supraspecific taxonomy with one congruent with our phylogenetic results.
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figure 4 in a new species of Plestiodon squamata scincidae from sierra madre del sur of guerrero mexico
2012Co-Authors: Manuel Feriaortiz, Uri Omar GarciavazquezAbstract:FIGURE 4. Habitat of Plestiodon nietoi sp. nov. at the type locality. Photo by Cristian Blancas.
Matthew C Brandley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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snake and bird predation drive the repeated convergent evolution of correlated life history traits and phenotype in the izu island scincid lizard Plestiodon latiscutatus
PLOS ONE, 2014Co-Authors: Matthew C Brandley, Takeo Kuriyama, Masami HasegawaAbstract:Predation may create strong natural selection pressure on the phenotype and life history characteristics of prey species. The Izu scincid lizards (Plestiodon latiscutatus) that inhabit the four Japanese Izu Islands with only bird predators are drab brown, mature later, lay small clutches of large eggs, and hatch large neonates. In contrast, skinks on seven islands with both snake and bird predators are conspicuously colored, mature early, lay large clutches of small eggs, and hatch small neonates. We test the hypothesis that these suites of traits have evolved independently on each island via natural selection pressures from one of two predator regimes – birds-only and birds + snakes. Using two mtDNA genes and a nuclear locus, we infer a time-calibrated phylogeny of P. latiscutatus that reveals a basal split between Mikura and all islands south, and Miyake, all islands north, and the Izu Peninsula. Populations inhabiting Miyake, Niijima, Shikine, and Toshima are not monophyletic, suggesting either multiple colonizations or an artifact of incomplete lineage sorting (ILS). We therefore developed novel phylogenetic comparative analyses that assume either a multiple colonization or more restrictive single colonization ILS scenario and found 1) statistically significant support for the of different suites of phenotypic and life history characteristics with the presence of bird-only or bird + snake predator assemblages, and 2) strong phylogenetic support for at least two independent derivations of either the “bird-only” or “snakes + birds” phenotypes regardless of colonization scenario. Finally, our time-calibrated phylogeographic analysis supports the conclusion that the ancestor to modern Izu Island P. latiscutatus dispersed from the mainland to the Izu proto-islands between 3–7.6 million years ago (Ma). These lineages remained present in the area during successive formation of the islands, with one lineage re-colonizing the mainland 0.24-0.7 Ma.
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A. Map of the Izu Islands and nearby mainland Japan.
2014Co-Authors: Matthew C Brandley, Takeo Kuriyama, Masami HasegawaAbstract:The weasel (Mustela itatsi), snake (Elaphe quadrivirgata), and bird (Turdus celaenops) icons indicate whether those predators historically inhabit the island (the weasel has been subsequently introduced to Toshima, Miyake, Hachijojima and Aogashima since the 1930s). Interior bathymetric lines indicate a depth of 100 m and exterior lines a depth of 200 m unless otherwise specified; B. typical striped morph of Plestiodon latiscutatus inhabiting islands with snake predators (Oshima, Toshima, Niijima, Shikine, Kozu, Tadanae, and Mikura); C. typical drab morph of the same species inhabiting bird-only predator islands (Miyake, Hachijojima, Hachijokojima, and Aogashima).
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the phylogenetic systematics of blue tailed skinks Plestiodon and the family scincidae
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012Co-Authors: Matthew C Brandley, Xianguang Guo, Hidetoshi Ota, Tsutomu Hikida, Adrian Nietomontes De Oca, Manuel Feriaortiz, Yuezhao WangAbstract:Blue-tailed skinks (genus Plestiodon) are a common component of the terrestrial herpetofauna throughout their range in eastern Eurasia and North and Middle America. Plestiodon species are also frequent subjects of ecological and evolutionary research, yet a comprehensive, well-supported phylogenetic framework does not yet exist for this genus. We construct a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Plestiodon using Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of a nine-locus data set comprising 8308 base pairs of DNA, sampled from 38 of the 43 species in the genus. We evaluate potential gene tree/species tree discordance by conducting phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated and individual locus data sets, as well as employing coalescent-based methods. Specifically, we address the placement of Plestiodon within the evolutionary tree of Scincidae, as well as the phylogenetic relationships between Plestiodon species, and their taxonomy. Given our sampling of major Scincidae lineages, we also re-evaluate deep relationships within the family, with the goal of resolving relationships that have been ambiguous in recent molecular phylogenetic analyses. We infer strong support for several scincid relationships, including a major clade of scincines and the inter-relationships of major Mediterranean and southern African genera. Although we could not estimate the precise phylogenetic affinities of Plestiodon with statistically significant support, we nonetheless infer significant support for its inclusion in a large scincine clade exclusive of Acontinae, Lygosominae, Brachymeles, and Ophiomorus. Plestiodon comprises three major geographically cohesive clades. One of these clades is composed of mostly large-bodied species inhabiting northern Indochina, south-eastern China (including Taiwan), and the southern Ryukyu Islands of Japan. The second clade comprises species inhabiting central China (including Taiwan) and the entire Japanese archipelago. The third clade exclusively inhabits North and Middle America and the island of Bermuda. A vast majority of interspecific relationships are strongly supported in the concatenated data analysis, but there is nonetheless significant conflict amongst the individual gene trees. Coalescent-based gene tree/species tree analyses indicate that incongruence amongst the nuclear loci may severely obscure the phylogenetic inter-relationships of the primarily small-bodied Plestiodon species that inhabit the central Mexican highlands. These same analyses do support the sister relationship between Plestiodon marginatus Hallowell, 1861 and Plestiodon stimpsonii (Thompson, 1912), and differ with the mitochondrial DNA analysis that supports Plestiodon elegans (Boulenger, 1887) + P. stimpsonii. Finally, because the existing Plestiodon taxonomy is a poor representation of evolutionary relationships, we replace the existing supraspecific taxonomy with one congruent with our phylogenetic results.
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accommodating heterogenous rates of evolution in molecular divergence dating methods an example using intercontinental dispersal of Plestiodon eumeces lizards
Systematic Biology, 2011Co-Authors: Xianguang Guo, Matthew C Brandley, Tsutomu Hikida, Adrian Nietomontes De Oca, Manuel Feriaortiz, Yuezhao Wang, Hidetoshi OtaAbstract:Identifying and dating historical biological events is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology, and recent analytical advances permit the modeling of factors known to affect both the accuracy and the precision of molecular date estimates. As the use of multilocus data sets becomes increasingly routine, it becomes more important to evaluate the potentially confounding effects of rate heterogeneity both within (e.g., codon positions) and among loci when estimating divergence times. Here, using Plestiodon lizards as a test case, we examine the effects of accommodating rate heterogeneity among data partitions on divergence time estimation. Plestiodon inhabits both East Asia and North America, yet both the geographic origin of the genus and timing of dispersal between the continents have been debated. For each of the eight independently evolving loci and a combined data set, we conduct single model and partitioned analyses. We found that extreme saturation has obscured the underlying rate of evolution in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), resulting in severe underestimation of the rate in this locus. As a result, the age of the crown Plestiodon clade was overestimated by 15-17 Myr by the unpartitioned analysis of the combined loci data. However, the application of partition-specific models to the combined data resulted in ages that were fully congruent with those inferred by the individual nuclear loci. Although partitioning improved divergence date estimates of the mtDNA-only analysis, the ages were nonetheless overestimated, thus indicating an inadequacy of our current models to capture the complex nature of mtDNA evolution in over large time scales. Finally, the statistically incongruent age distributions inferred by the partitioned and unpartitioned analyses of the combined data support mutually exclusive hypotheses of the timing of intercontinental dispersal of Plestiodon from Asia to North America. Analyses that best capture the rate of evolution in the combined data set infer that this exchange occurred via Beringia � 18.0-30 Ma. (Bayesian; Beringia; divergence dating; molecular rate; partitioning; rate heterogeneity; relaxed molecular clock; saturation; Scincidae.)
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accommodating heterogenous rates of evolution in molecular divergence dating methods an example using intercontinental dispersal of Plestiodon eumeces lizards
Systematic Biology, 2011Co-Authors: Xianguang Guo, Matthew C Brandley, Tsutomu Hikida, Adrian Nietomontes De Oca, Manuel Feriaortiz, Yuezhao Wang, Hidetoshi OtaAbstract:Identifying and dating historical biological events is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology, and recent analytical advances permit the modeling of factors known to affect both the accuracy and the precision of molecular date estimates. As the use of multilocus data sets becomes increasingly routine, it becomes more important to evaluate the potentially confounding effects of rate heterogeneity both within (e.g., codon positions) and among loci when estimating divergence times. Here, using Plestiodon lizards as a test case, we examine the effects of accommodating rate heterogeneity among data partitions on divergence time estimation. Plestiodon inhabits both East Asia and North America, yet both the geographic origin of the genus and timing of dispersal between the continents have been debated. For each of the eight independently evolving loci and a combined data set, we conduct single model and partitioned analyses. We found that extreme saturation has obscured the underlying rate of evolution in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), resulting in severe underestimation of the rate in this locus. As a result, the age of the crown Plestiodon clade was overestimated by 15-17 Myr by the unpartitioned analysis of the combined loci data. However, the application of partition-specific models to the combined data resulted in ages that were fully congruent with those inferred by the individual nuclear loci. Although partitioning improved divergence date estimates of the mtDNA-only analysis, the ages were nonetheless overestimated, thus indicating an inadequacy of our current models to capture the complex nature of mtDNA evolution in over large time scales. Finally, the statistically incongruent age distributions inferred by the partitioned and unpartitioned analyses of the combined data support mutually exclusive hypotheses of the timing of intercontinental dispersal of Plestiodon from Asia to North America. Analyses that best capture the rate of evolution in the combined data set infer that this exchange occurred via Beringia similar to 18.0-30 Ma.
Tsutomu Hikida - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a new species of Plestiodon squamata scincidae from the senkaku group ryukyu archipelago japan
Zootaxa, 2017Co-Authors: Kazuki Kurita, Hidetoshi Ota, Tsutomu HikidaAbstract:A new scincid lizard, Plestiodon takarai sp. nov., is described from the Senkaku Group, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. The Plestiodon lizards in this island group have previously been identified as P. elegans because they all exhibit a patch of enlarged and irregularly arranged scales on the posterior surface of their femurs. However, detailed molecular analyses revealed that the Senkaku population, although closely related to P. elegans and other species in the P. latiscutatus species group, is substantially diverged from all other recognized species. Furthermore, although the Senkaku population largely exhibits the characteristic morphological features of this species group, it can be differentiated from all recognized species by the scutellation and hatchling tail coloration. The biogeographical and conservation implications of these findings are briefly discussed.
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a new species of Plestiodon squamata scincidae from kuchinoshima island in the tokara group of the northern ryukyus japan
Zoological Science, 2014Co-Authors: Kazuki Kurita, Tsutomu HikidaAbstract:A scincid lizard of the genus Plestiodon from Kuchinoshima Island in the Tokara Group of the Northern Ryukyus, Japan, has proved to be genetically and morphologically differentiated from any previously recognized species in the genus. We thus describe this island population as a new species, Plestiodon kuchinoshimensis. The new species shows characteristics of the P. latiscutatus species group, but differs from other species of this group by the combination of the following character states: postnasal absent; hatchling with five longitudinal light lines on dorsum; lateral light line on each side passing over ear opening and the sixth to eighth scale rows at midbody; dorsolateral light line beginning from behind supraoculars; patch of enlarged irregular scales on posterior femur absent; scale rows around midbody 27–32; and brownish background on the dorsal surface of the juvenile.
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divergence and long distance overseas dispersals of island populations of the ryukyu five lined skink Plestiodon marginatus scincidae squamata in the ryukyu archipelago japan as revealed by mitochondrial dna phylogeography
Zoological Science, 2014Co-Authors: Kazuki Kurita, Tsutomu HikidaAbstract:We assessed the historical biogeography of the Ryukyu five-lined skink, Plestiodon marginatus, and related species (P. stimpsonii and P. elegans). Our specific aims were to reveal the origin, tim- ing, and route of the colonization to three volcanic islands in the northern Tokara Group of the northern Ryukyus: Kuchinoshima, Nakanoshima, and Suwanosejima. We conducted phylogenetic analyses and divergence time estimation using a partial sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene for P. marginatus collected from across its whole range (the northern and central Ryukyus), and for P. stimpsonii (from the Yaeyama Group of the southern Ryukyus) and P. elegans (from Taiwan). Our results suggest three major clades (A, B, and C). Clades A and B consist of P. marginatus, excluding the Kuchinoshima population, and Clade C consisted of the Kuchinoshima population, P. stimpsonii, and P. elegans. These clades are estimated to have diverged during the Late Miocene to the Late Pliocene. Among the three examined northern Tokara populations, the Kuchinoshima population was shown to be a sister group of P. stimpsonii. The two other populations from Nakanoshima and Suwanosejima Islands were closely related to P. marginatus from the northern part of the Okinawa Group and that from Kodakarajima Island in the southern Tokara Group, respectively. These populations are estimated to have diverged from their respective related spe cies in various ages of the Early to Late Pleistocene, suggesting that they colonized the islands by independent overseas dispersals of approximately 50–850 km via the Kuroshio Current. Taxonomic implications for P. marginatus are also discussed.
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development and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite marker for east asian species of the genus Plestiodon
Conservation Genetics Resources, 2013Co-Authors: Kazuki Kurita, Tsutomu Hikida, Mamoru TodaAbstract:We isolated and characterized nine microsatellite markers for Plestiodon kishinouyei and Plestiodon marginatus, which are of conservation concern, with sever population decline. The number of alleles and expected heterozygosity at each locus in P. kishinouyei were 1–15 and 0.000–0.910, respectively, and those in P. marginatus were 1–9 and 0.000–0.842, respectively. Cross-amplification in five other congeners in East Asia confirmed that these markers are applicable to almost all of those species and widley useful for genetic analyses of the East Asian Plestiodon.
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a new cryptic species allied to Plestiodon japonicus peters 1864 squamata scincidae from eastern japan and diagnoses of the new species and two parapatric congeners based on morphology and dna barcode
Zootaxa, 2012Co-Authors: Taku Okamoto, Tsutomu HikidaAbstract:A new species of scincid lizard allied to Plestiodon japonicus (Peters, 1864) was described as P. finitimus sp. nov., fromthe eastern part of Honshu and Hokkaido, Japan. A previous DNA study reported the taxonomic status of the easternJapanese populations of Plestiodon as an undescribed species on the basis of their collective genetic distinctness from aparapatric congener P. japonicus sensu strict from the western part of mainland Japan. We present the diagnostic featuresof P. finitimus compared to P. japonicus and P. latiscutatus Hallowell, 1861, the other parapatric species occurring in theIzu Peninsula and Izu Islands of central Japan, on the basis of morphological characteristics and DNA barcode patterns.Both P. finitimus and P. japonicus have a small postnasal and large anterior loreal that contacts the supralabials. In contrast,the Izu Peninsular populations of P. latiscutatus, which had no known diagnostic features relative to the other two species,usually have a large postnasal and small anterior loreal, with the latter separated from the supralabials by the former, ormay otherwise lack a postnasal. In most populations of P. finitimus, the right and left prefrontals are usually isolated fromeach other, whereas they exhibit medial contact in most populations of P. japonicus. Although all the above characters arevariable both within and between populations, 60–90% of the specimens from each locality on mainland Japan werecorrectly identified using a combination of these characters. Based on these characters, the Russian Far East populationof Plestiodon was also identified as P. finitimus. The interspecific sequence differences in the standard DNA barcoderegion (a 658 base pair fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene of mitochondrial DNA) were distinct, andeach of the three species was exclusively clustered in a neighbor-joining tree. The limited hybridization among the threespecies indicated by previous studies suggests that DNA barcodes could provide a reliable key for their correctidentification. The implications for the biogeography and speciation of the three parapatric lizard species are briefly discussed.
Hidetoshi Ota - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a new species of Plestiodon squamata scincidae from the senkaku group ryukyu archipelago japan
Zootaxa, 2017Co-Authors: Kazuki Kurita, Hidetoshi Ota, Tsutomu HikidaAbstract:A new scincid lizard, Plestiodon takarai sp. nov., is described from the Senkaku Group, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. The Plestiodon lizards in this island group have previously been identified as P. elegans because they all exhibit a patch of enlarged and irregularly arranged scales on the posterior surface of their femurs. However, detailed molecular analyses revealed that the Senkaku population, although closely related to P. elegans and other species in the P. latiscutatus species group, is substantially diverged from all other recognized species. Furthermore, although the Senkaku population largely exhibits the characteristic morphological features of this species group, it can be differentiated from all recognized species by the scutellation and hatchling tail coloration. The biogeographical and conservation implications of these findings are briefly discussed.
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the phylogenetic systematics of blue tailed skinks Plestiodon and the family scincidae
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012Co-Authors: Matthew C Brandley, Xianguang Guo, Hidetoshi Ota, Tsutomu Hikida, Adrian Nietomontes De Oca, Manuel Feriaortiz, Yuezhao WangAbstract:Blue-tailed skinks (genus Plestiodon) are a common component of the terrestrial herpetofauna throughout their range in eastern Eurasia and North and Middle America. Plestiodon species are also frequent subjects of ecological and evolutionary research, yet a comprehensive, well-supported phylogenetic framework does not yet exist for this genus. We construct a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Plestiodon using Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of a nine-locus data set comprising 8308 base pairs of DNA, sampled from 38 of the 43 species in the genus. We evaluate potential gene tree/species tree discordance by conducting phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated and individual locus data sets, as well as employing coalescent-based methods. Specifically, we address the placement of Plestiodon within the evolutionary tree of Scincidae, as well as the phylogenetic relationships between Plestiodon species, and their taxonomy. Given our sampling of major Scincidae lineages, we also re-evaluate deep relationships within the family, with the goal of resolving relationships that have been ambiguous in recent molecular phylogenetic analyses. We infer strong support for several scincid relationships, including a major clade of scincines and the inter-relationships of major Mediterranean and southern African genera. Although we could not estimate the precise phylogenetic affinities of Plestiodon with statistically significant support, we nonetheless infer significant support for its inclusion in a large scincine clade exclusive of Acontinae, Lygosominae, Brachymeles, and Ophiomorus. Plestiodon comprises three major geographically cohesive clades. One of these clades is composed of mostly large-bodied species inhabiting northern Indochina, south-eastern China (including Taiwan), and the southern Ryukyu Islands of Japan. The second clade comprises species inhabiting central China (including Taiwan) and the entire Japanese archipelago. The third clade exclusively inhabits North and Middle America and the island of Bermuda. A vast majority of interspecific relationships are strongly supported in the concatenated data analysis, but there is nonetheless significant conflict amongst the individual gene trees. Coalescent-based gene tree/species tree analyses indicate that incongruence amongst the nuclear loci may severely obscure the phylogenetic inter-relationships of the primarily small-bodied Plestiodon species that inhabit the central Mexican highlands. These same analyses do support the sister relationship between Plestiodon marginatus Hallowell, 1861 and Plestiodon stimpsonii (Thompson, 1912), and differ with the mitochondrial DNA analysis that supports Plestiodon elegans (Boulenger, 1887) + P. stimpsonii. Finally, because the existing Plestiodon taxonomy is a poor representation of evolutionary relationships, we replace the existing supraspecific taxonomy with one congruent with our phylogenetic results.
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accommodating heterogenous rates of evolution in molecular divergence dating methods an example using intercontinental dispersal of Plestiodon eumeces lizards
Systematic Biology, 2011Co-Authors: Xianguang Guo, Matthew C Brandley, Tsutomu Hikida, Adrian Nietomontes De Oca, Manuel Feriaortiz, Yuezhao Wang, Hidetoshi OtaAbstract:Identifying and dating historical biological events is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology, and recent analytical advances permit the modeling of factors known to affect both the accuracy and the precision of molecular date estimates. As the use of multilocus data sets becomes increasingly routine, it becomes more important to evaluate the potentially confounding effects of rate heterogeneity both within (e.g., codon positions) and among loci when estimating divergence times. Here, using Plestiodon lizards as a test case, we examine the effects of accommodating rate heterogeneity among data partitions on divergence time estimation. Plestiodon inhabits both East Asia and North America, yet both the geographic origin of the genus and timing of dispersal between the continents have been debated. For each of the eight independently evolving loci and a combined data set, we conduct single model and partitioned analyses. We found that extreme saturation has obscured the underlying rate of evolution in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), resulting in severe underestimation of the rate in this locus. As a result, the age of the crown Plestiodon clade was overestimated by 15-17 Myr by the unpartitioned analysis of the combined loci data. However, the application of partition-specific models to the combined data resulted in ages that were fully congruent with those inferred by the individual nuclear loci. Although partitioning improved divergence date estimates of the mtDNA-only analysis, the ages were nonetheless overestimated, thus indicating an inadequacy of our current models to capture the complex nature of mtDNA evolution in over large time scales. Finally, the statistically incongruent age distributions inferred by the partitioned and unpartitioned analyses of the combined data support mutually exclusive hypotheses of the timing of intercontinental dispersal of Plestiodon from Asia to North America. Analyses that best capture the rate of evolution in the combined data set infer that this exchange occurred via Beringia � 18.0-30 Ma. (Bayesian; Beringia; divergence dating; molecular rate; partitioning; rate heterogeneity; relaxed molecular clock; saturation; Scincidae.)
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accommodating heterogenous rates of evolution in molecular divergence dating methods an example using intercontinental dispersal of Plestiodon eumeces lizards
Systematic Biology, 2011Co-Authors: Xianguang Guo, Matthew C Brandley, Tsutomu Hikida, Adrian Nietomontes De Oca, Manuel Feriaortiz, Yuezhao Wang, Hidetoshi OtaAbstract:Identifying and dating historical biological events is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology, and recent analytical advances permit the modeling of factors known to affect both the accuracy and the precision of molecular date estimates. As the use of multilocus data sets becomes increasingly routine, it becomes more important to evaluate the potentially confounding effects of rate heterogeneity both within (e.g., codon positions) and among loci when estimating divergence times. Here, using Plestiodon lizards as a test case, we examine the effects of accommodating rate heterogeneity among data partitions on divergence time estimation. Plestiodon inhabits both East Asia and North America, yet both the geographic origin of the genus and timing of dispersal between the continents have been debated. For each of the eight independently evolving loci and a combined data set, we conduct single model and partitioned analyses. We found that extreme saturation has obscured the underlying rate of evolution in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), resulting in severe underestimation of the rate in this locus. As a result, the age of the crown Plestiodon clade was overestimated by 15-17 Myr by the unpartitioned analysis of the combined loci data. However, the application of partition-specific models to the combined data resulted in ages that were fully congruent with those inferred by the individual nuclear loci. Although partitioning improved divergence date estimates of the mtDNA-only analysis, the ages were nonetheless overestimated, thus indicating an inadequacy of our current models to capture the complex nature of mtDNA evolution in over large time scales. Finally, the statistically incongruent age distributions inferred by the partitioned and unpartitioned analyses of the combined data support mutually exclusive hypotheses of the timing of intercontinental dispersal of Plestiodon from Asia to North America. Analyses that best capture the rate of evolution in the combined data set infer that this exchange occurred via Beringia similar to 18.0-30 Ma.
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molecular phylogeography of the endemic five lined skink Plestiodon marginatus reptilia scincidae of the ryukyu archipelago japan with special reference to the relationship of a northern tokara population1
Pacific Science, 2008Co-Authors: Masanao Honda, Taku Okamoto, Tsutomu Hikida, Hidetoshi OtaAbstract:ABSTRACT Phylogenetic relationships were inferred for populations of the Ryukyu five-lined skink Plestiodon marginatus, a species showing an extraordinary distribution across the Tokara Tectonic Strait. Phylogenetic analyses of 809 base positions of the mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA genes supported collective divergence of the southern Tokara and northern Amami populations, which have been classified as P. m. oshimensis. A population from Nakanoshima, an island of the Tokara Group north of the Tokara Tectonic Strait, has the closest affinity with the Okinawajima population of P. m. marginatus rather than with the geographically closer southern Tokara and northern Amami populations. This result is concordant with that of a recent allozyme study and suggests an origin of the Nakanoshima population through long-distance dispersal from the Okinawa Island Group. Also, our results strongly suggest a closer relationship of a population of P. m. oshimensis from Okinoerabujima, a southern island of the Amami Grou...