Genomics Reveals Recent Rapid Speciation of Sea Snakes of the Genus <i>Hydrophis</i> (Reptilia, Squamata, Elapidae).

ABSTRACT: Understanding the mechanisms of speciation in the open ocean, where few obvious geographic barriers exist, is an important question in ecology. Marine amniotes are an ideal model for studying speciation in the ocean because monophyly is ensured in many groups with evident time points when they have begun their life in the sea. Among such marine amniotes, sea snakes of the genus Hydrophis exhibit an extremely high species diversity. Here, we performed genome-wide analyses of 16 Hydrophis individuals belonging to 14 species to understand how Hydrophis sea snakes have diversified and speciated. Demographic data suggest that most Hydrophis sea snakes speciated almost simultaneously around 1 million years ago, and little inter-species admixture after speciation is in

SUBMITTER: Kishida T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12178717 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature