These authors contributed equally.
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Comparative phylogeography of pitvipers suggests a consensus of ancient Middle American highland biogeography
Article first published online: 1 OCT 2008
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01991.x
© 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Additional Information
How to Cite
Castoe, T. A., Daza, J. M., Smith, E. N., Sasa, M. M., Kuch, U., Campbell, J. A., Chippindale, P. T. and Parkinson, C. L. (2009), Comparative phylogeography of pitvipers suggests a consensus of ancient Middle American highland biogeography. Journal of Biogeography, 36: 88–103. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01991.x
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These authors contributed equally.
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Present address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
Publication History
- Issue published online: 10 DEC 2008
- Article first published online: 1 OCT 2008
Keywords:
- Atropoides;
- Bothriechis;
- Cerrophidion;
- Mexico;
- Miocene;
- montane forests;
- Neotropics;
- Pleistocene;
- speciation;
- Viperidae
Abstract
Aim We used inferences of phylogenetic relationships and divergence times for three lineages of highland pitvipers to identify broad-scale historical events that have shaped the evolutionary history of Middle American highland taxa, and to test previous hypotheses of Neotropical speciation.
Location Middle America (Central America and Mexico).
Methods We used 2306 base pairs of mitochondrial gene sequences from 178 individuals to estimate the phylogeny and divergence times of New World pitviper lineages, focusing on three genera (Atropoides, Bothriechis and Cerrophidion) that are broadly co-distributed across Middle American highlands.
Results We found strong correspondence across three highland lineages for temporally and geographically coincident divergences in the Miocene and Pliocene, and further identified widespread within-species divergences across multiple lineages that occurred in the early–middle Pleistocene.
Main conclusions Available data suggest that there were at least three major historical events in Middle America that had broad impacts on species divergence and lineage diversification among highland taxa. In addition, we find widespread within-species genetic structure that may be attributable to the climatic changes that affected gene flow among highland taxa during the middle–late Pleistocene.