Quantifying ecological, morphological, and genetic variation to delimit species in the coast horned lizard species complex (Phrynosoma).

ABSTRACT: Lineage separation and divergence form a temporally extended process whereby populations may diverge genetically, morphologically, or ecologically, and these contingent properties of species provide the operational criteria necessary for species delimitation. We inferred the historical process of lineage formation in the coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) species complex by evaluating a diversity of operational species criteria, including divergence in mtDNA (98 specimens; 2,781 bp) and nuclear loci (RAG-1, 1,054 bp; BDNF 529 bp), ecological niches (11 bioclimatic variables; 285 unique localities), and cranial horn shapes (493 specimens; 16 landmarks). A phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA recovers 5 phylogeographic groups arranged latitudinally along the Baja California Peninsula and i

SUBMITTER: Leache AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2716385 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature