Early stages of divergence: phylogeography, climate modeling, and morphological differentiation in the South American lizard Liolaemus petrophilus (Squamata: Liolaemidae)

Ecology and Evolution

Frank M. Fontanella¹  Natalia Feltrin³  Luciano J. Avila³  Jack W. Sites Jr.² 

[1] Department of Biology and Chemistry, Morehead State University, Morehead, Kentucky;Department of Biology and Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah;CENPAT-CONICET, Boulevard Almirante Brown 2915, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

关键词: Ecological niche modeling;    lizards;    morphology;    Patagonia;    phylogeography;    Pleistocene;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.78

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

This study examines the phylogeographic structure within the Patagonian lizard Liolaemus petrophilus and tests for patterns of between-clade morphological divergence and sexual dimorphism, as well as demographic and niche changes associated with Pleistocene climate changes. We inferred intraspecific relationships, tested hypotheses for historical patterns of population expansion, and incorporated ecological niche modeling (ENM) with standard morphological and geometric morphometric analyses to examine between-clade divergence as indirect evidence for adaptation to different niches. The two inferred haploclades diverged during the early Pleistocene with the Southern clade depicting the genetic signature of a recent population increase associated with expanding niche envelope, whereas the Northern clade shows stable populations in a shrinking niche envelope. The combination of molecular evidence for postisolation demographic change and ENM, suggest that the two haploclades have responded differently to Pleistocene climatic events.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC   
© 2011 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.