Cryptic diversity in Rhampholeon boulengeri (Sauria: Chamaeleonidae), a pygmy chameleon from the Albertine Rift biodiversity hotspot.

ABSTRACT: Several biogeographic barriers in the Central African highlands have reduced gene flow among populations of many terrestrial species in predictable ways. Yet, a comprehensive understanding of mechanisms underlying species divergence in the Afrotropics can be obscured by unrecognized levels of cryptic diversity, particularly in widespread species. We implemented a multilocus phylogeographic approach to examine diversity within the widely distributed Central African pygmy chameleon, Rhampholeon boulengeri. Gene-tree analyses coupled with a comparative coalescent-based species delimitation framework revealed R. boulengeri as a complex of at least six genetically distinct species. The spatiotemporal speciation patterns for these cryptic species conform to general biogeographic hypotheses suppo

SUBMITTER: Hughes DF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6010225 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature