Abstract
Tetrapod taxa with broad geographic distributions across the Neotropics are often composed of multiple evolutionary lineages. In this paper, we present the most complete phylogeny of Leptophis to date and assess morphology-based species limits within the broadly distributed green parrot snake Leptophis ahaetulla sensu lato, which occurs from Mexico to Argentina. Although L. ahaetulla sensu stricto, L. nigromarginatus and L. occidentalis were recovered as paraphyletic, tree topology tests failed to reject their monophyly. Monophyly of L. bocourti, L. coeruleodorsus, L. cupreus, L. depressirostris, L. marginatus, L. riveti and L. sp. nov. was strongly supported. Our phylogenetic trees support recognition of multiple species within Leptophis ahaetulla sensu lato and suggest that color evolution and the uplift of the Andes played an important role in the diversification of parrot snakes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |
| State | Published - Nov 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
Funding
We are especially thankful to Nelson R. Albuquerque for sharing unpublished data and for his useful advice. We also thank D. Mulcahy for sharing sequences and other data on specimens of L. occidentalis from Panama. Two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments that improved our manuscript. Vincent Prémel helped with the identification of QCAZ specimens. Newly sequenced specimens were collected under permits 002-16 IC-FAU-DNB/MA, 003-15 IC-FAU-DNB/MA, 005-14 IC-FAU-DNB/MA, 008-09 IC-FAU-DNB/MA, 009-2018-IC-PNY-DPAO/AVS, 013-2017-IC-FLO-FAU-DPZCH-UPN-VS/MA and Contrato Marco de Acceso a Recursos Genéticos MAE-DNB-CM-2015-0025 issued by Ministerio del Ambiente de Ecuador. Molecular work was supported by the Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENESCYT) under the ‘Arca de Noé’ Initiative (PIs: SR Ron and OTC); and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador under Grant M13406. We are especially thankful to Nelson R. Albuquerque for sharing unpublished data and for his useful advice. We also thank D. Mulcahy for sharing sequences and other data on specimens of L. occidentalis from Panama. Two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments that improved our manuscript. Vincent Prémel helped with the identification of QCAZ specimens. Newly sequenced specimens were collected under permits 002-16 IC-FAU-DNB/MA, 003-15 IC-FAU-DNB/MA, 005-14 IC-FAU-DNB/MA, 008-09 IC-FAU-DNB/MA, 009-2018-IC-PNY-DPAO/AVS, 013-2017-IC-FLO-FAU-DPZCH-UPN-VS/MA and Contrato Marco de Acceso a Recursos Genéticos MAE-DNB-CM-2015-0025 issued by Ministerio del Ambiente de Ecuador. Molecular work was supported by the Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENESCYT) under the ‘Arca de Noé’ Initiative (PIs: SR Ron and OTC); and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador under Grant M13406.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Ministerio del Ambiente, Agua y Transición Ecológica | |
| Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación | |
| Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador | M13406 |