Project description:The members of the Indochinese box turtle complex, namely Cuora galbinifrons, Cuora bourreti, and Cuora picturata, rank the most critically endangered turtle species on earth after more than three decades of over-harvesting for food, traditional Chinese medicine, and pet markets. Despite advances in molecular biology, species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships, the status of the C. galbinifrons complex remains unresolved due to the small number of specimens observed and collected in the field. In this study, we present analyses of morphologic characters as well as mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data to reconstruct the species boundaries and systematic relationships within the C. galbinifrons complex. Based on principal component analysis (PCA) and statistical analysis, we found that phenotypic traits partially overlapped among galbinifrons, bourreti, and picturata, and that galbinifrons and bourreti might be only subspecifically distinct. Moreover, we used the mitochondrial genome, COI, and nuclear gene Rag1 under the maximum likelihood criteria and Bayesian inference criteria to elucidate whether C. galbinifrons could be divided into three separate species or subspecies. We found strong support for a sister relationship between picturata and the other two species, and consequently, we recommend maintaining picturata as a full species, and classifying bourreti and galbinifrons as subspecies of C. galbinifrons. These findings provide evidence for a better understanding of the evolutionary histories of these critically endangered turtles.

| S-EPMC6912918 | biostudies-literature

Cuora amboinensis

Project description:Cuora amboinensis Genome sequencing and assembly

| PRJNA511034 | ENA

Cuora mccordi isolate:ISIS 951048

Project description:Cuora mccordi isolate:ISIS 951048 Genome sequencing and assembly

| PRJNA491715 | ENA

A molecular phylogeny of the tribe Ochthebiini (Coleoptera, Hydraenidae, Ochthebiinae)

Project description:A molecular phylogeny of the tribe Ochthebiini (Coleoptera, Hydraenidae, Ochthebiinae)

| PRJEB25225 | ENA

A molecular phylogeny for marine turtles: trait mapping, rate assessment, and conservation relevance.

Project description:Nucleotide sequences from the cytochrome b gene of mitochondrial DNA were employed to resolve phylogenetic controversies and to assess molecular evolutionary rates in marine turtles (Chelonioidea). Findings of special relevance to conservation biology include discovery of a distant relationship between Natator and other cheloniid species, the paraphyly of Chelonia mydas with respect to Chelonia agassizi, and genetic distinctiveness of Lepidochelys kempi from Lepidochelys olivacea. A longstanding debate in evolutionary ecology was resolved by phylogenetic mapping of dietary habits, which indicates that the spongivore Eretmochelys imbricata evolved from a carnivorous rather than a herbivorous ancestor. Sequence divergences at intergeneric and interfamilial levels, when assessed against fossil-based separation times, support previous suggestions (from microevolutionary comparisons) that mitochondrial DNA in marine turtles evolves much more slowly than under the "conventional" vertebrate clock. This slow pace of nucleotide replacement is consistent with recent hypotheses linking substitution rate to generation length and metabolic pace.

| S-EPMC46763 | biostudies-other

Phylogeny of snowfinches

Project description:Phylogeny of snowfinches

| PRJEB61937 | ENA