Morphology and ecology of the Mexican cave anole Anolis alvarezdeltoroi

We redescribe the ecologically unusual lizard Anolis alvarezdeltoroi, previously known from a single specimen, based on newly collected and previously unidentified preserved specimens from the type-locality region in Chiapas, as well as new localities in Veracruz and Oaxaca. We include information on color, morphological variation, and natural history. Anolis alvarezdeltoroi occupies limestone caves, an unusual habitat for anoles. We found individuals active on limestone surfaces during the day at heights from 0.42 to 5 m, and sleeping mainly in cave interiors, with some individuals observed on ceilings deep within caves.NSF grant DEB 0844624 to Steven Poe as well as DGAPA, UNAM (PAPIIT no. 224009) and CONACYT (no. 154093), both to Adrián Nieto Montes de Oca.Geological Science

A new species of knob-scaled lizard (Xenosauridae, Xenosaurus) from the Sierra Madre Oriental of Puebla, Mexico

Volume: 737Start Page: 141End Page: 16

A new species of earth snake (Dipsadidae, Geophis) from Mexico

A new species of the Geophis dubius group is described from the mountains of the Sierra Zongolica in west-central Veracruz and the Sierra de Quimixtlán in central-east Puebla. The new species is most similar to G. duellmani and G. turbidus, which are endemic to the mountains of northern Oaxaca and the Sierra Madre Oriental of Puebla and Hidalgo, respectively. However, the new species differs from G. duellmani by the presence of postocular and supraocular scales and from G. turbidus by having a bicolor dorsum. With the description of the new species, the species number in the genus increases to 50 and to 12 in the G. dubius group. Additionally, a key to the species of the G. dubius group is provided

A revised phylogeny of holarctic treefrogs (Genus Hyla) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences

The treefrog genus Hyla (Anura: Hylidae) consists of at least 31 species found in North America, Central America, Europe, and Asia and is the only genus of hylids that occurs outside the New World. Despite intensive work on the phylogeny of the genus in the past few years, several problems still exist regarding relationships within Hyla. These problems include the unusual placements of H. gratiosa and H. walkeri in some recent studies and the relatively limited taxon sampling of Asian species. In the present study, we revisit the phylogeny of Hyla to address some of these problems. First, we tested the unexpected placements of H. gratiosa and H. walkeri by sampling additional individuals of these species. Our results show that the unusual placements of H. gratiosa and H. walkeri in previous studies were most likely due to a mislabelled tissue sample and a misidentified specimen, respectively. Second, we included two species of Asian Hyla not included in previous phylogenies. Our study provides additional evidence for two separate colonizations of Hyla from the New World into Asia, and suggests an unusual biogeographic pattern in the Asian Hyla clades

Sciurus aureogaster (Rodentia: Sciuridae)

Sciurus aureogaster (Cuvier, 1829) is a sciurid commonly called the red-bellied squirrel. S. aureogaster is a medium-bodied tree squirrel quite variable in color throughout the range; partial and complete melanism are common. One of 28 species in the genus, the red-bellied squirrel is endemic to Mexico and Guatemala, and introduced to the Florida Keys, USA. Two subspecies are recognized, the nominate form S. a. aureogaster, which occurs in eastern Mexico, and S. a. nigrescens, which occurs in central and western Mexico and southwestern Guatemala. Red-bellied squirrels inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems and plant communities, are diurnal, arboreal, and use leaf nests and tree cavities for nesting. S. aureogaster feeds primarily on acorns (Quercus) and pine (Pinus) seeds throughout most of the range, but individuals are known to damage corn and other plantation crops including cacao. Litter size ranges between 1 and 4 young. The red-bellied squirrel is listed as of “Least Concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

Bermuda as an Evolutionary Life Raft for an Ancient Lineage of Endangered Lizards

Oceanic islands are well known for harboring diverse species assemblages and are frequently the basis of research on adaptive radiation and neoendemism. However, a commonly overlooked role of some islands is their function in preserving ancient lineages that have become extinct everywhere else (paleoendemism). The island archipelago of Bermuda is home to a single species of extant terrestrial vertebrate, the endemic skink Plestiodon (formerly Eumeces) longirostris. The presence of this species is surprising because Bermuda is an isolated, relatively young oceanic island approximately 1000 km from the eastern United States. Here, we apply Bayesian phylogenetic analyses using a relaxed molecular clock to demonstrate that the island of Bermuda, although no older than two million years, is home to the only extant representative of one of the earliest mainland North American Plestiodon lineages, which diverged from its closest living relatives 11.5 to 19.8 million years ago. This implies that, within a short geological time frame, mainland North American ancestors of P. longirostris colonized the recently emergent Bermuda and the entire lineage subsequently vanished from the mainland. Thus, our analyses reveal that Bermuda is an example of a “life raft” preserving millions of years of unique evolutionary history, now at the brink of extinction. Threats such as habitat destruction, littering, and non-native species have severely reduced the population size of this highly endangered lizard

Data from: The role of mitochondrial introgression in illuminating the evolutionary history of Nearctic treefrogs

Inferring the evolutionary history of lineages often becomes difficult when gene histories are in conflict with each other. Introgression, for example, can cause DNA sequences from one species to be more similar to sequences of a different species and lead to incongruence amongst gene trees. However, incorporating congruent and incongruent locus-specific phylogenetic estimates with the geographical distribution of lineages may provide valuable insight into evolutionary processes important to speciation. In this study, we investigated mitochondrial introgression within the Hyla eximia group to better understand its role in illuminating the evolutionary history and phylogeography of these treefrogs. We reconstructed and compared the matrilineal history of the Hyla eximia group with estimates of evolutionary history inferred from nuclear genes. We tested for introgression within the mitochondrial and nuclear genes using a posterior predictive checking approach. Reconstructions of the species tree based on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA data were strongly discordant. Introgression between lineages was widespread in the mtDNA data set (145 occurrences amongst 11 of the 16 lineages), but uncommon in the nuclear genes (12 occurrences amongst four of the 16 lineages). Nonetheless, the geographical structuring of mtDNA within species provides valuable information on biogeographical areas, ancient areas of hybridization, and unique histories of lineages within the H. eximia group. These results suggest that the combination of nuclear, mitochondrial, and spatial information can provide a more complete picture of ‘how evolutionary history played out’, particularly in cases where mitochondrial introgression is known to occur

Hyla eximia group phased cryB data set used in *BEAST analyses

Nexus file with final alignment of phased cryB sequences used in *BEAST analyses. See ReadMe file to match sample names with species and voucher specimens

Hyla eximia group full mtDNA data set

Nexus file with aligned mtDNA sequences generated from 130 samples. See ReadMe file to match sample names with species and voucher specimens

Hyla eximia group phased POMC data set used in *BEAST analyses

Nexus file with final alignment of phased POMC sequences used in *BEAST analyses. See ReadMe file to match sample names with species and voucher specimens