Systematics and historical biogeography of the Lampropeltinine snakes
Item
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Title
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Systematics and historical biogeography of the Lampropeltinine snakes
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:0a973361668b:10220
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identifier
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10426
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Creator
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Pyron, Robert Alexander,
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Contributor
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Frank T. Burbrink
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Date
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2009
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Evolution & development | Systematic biology | Biogeography | Evolution | Herpetology | Phylogenetics | Systematics | Taxonomy
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Abstract
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Comparative studies in biology require phylogenetic hypotheses to make inferences about the processes which have shaped the evolutionary history of organisms. Thus, a complete phylogenetic estimate of a diverse group offers an excellent opportunity for examining the factors which have promoted the diversification of ecomorphological assemblages. Here, I detail such a study of the New World snake tribe Lampropeltini. The lampropeltinines comprise 31 currently recognized species, occurring from Canada to northern South America, inhabiting most major North American biomes, and exhibiting an unusual temperate peak in species richness. The Lampropeltini also exhibit an array of ecomorphological diversity, with adult sizes differing by an order of magnitude, specialization for both endothermic and ectothermic diets, and the evolution of putative Batesian mimicry of venomous coral and rattle snakes in several species. A new phylogeny inferred using multiple nuclear and mitochondrial genes allows for the stabilization of the taxonomy of the Lampropeltini. Subsequent analyses reveal that the extratropical increase in species richness is attributable to a combination of historical biogeographic factors related to the Tropical Conservatism Hypothesis (Wiens & Donoghue 2004), which are proposed as a general explanation for the in-situ evolution of biodiversity, dubbed the 'Biogeographical Conservatism Hypothesis.' The ecomorphological diversification of the Lampropeltini occurred primarily along an axis of adult body size, with which is observed the correlated evolution of diet and color pattern. This pattern of correlated evolution of putatively unrelated characters suggests that body size may be a primary determinant of morphological diversification when multiple traits are linked to variables such as body size. Finally, examining the factors which drove lineage formation at the species level through a phylogeographic assessment of the transcontinentally distributed Common Kingsnake ( Lampropeltis getula) reveals patterns of allopatric speciation due to both phylogenetic niche conservatism and niche divergence. This suggests that niche preferences are labile on short evolutionary timescales, and that speciation can occur simultaneously in both geographic and ecological dimensions. This phylogeographic estimate also allows for a systematic assessment of the taxonomy of the Common Kingsnake group, which is revised to include five species corresponding to the major phylogeographic lineages.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Biology
