Molecular phylogenetic evidence for ancient divergence of lizard taxa on either side of Wallace's Line

Wallace's Line, separating the terrestrial faunas of South East Asia from the Australia-New Guinea region, is the most prominent and well-studied biogeographical division in the world. Phylogenetically distinct subgroups of major animal and plant groups have been documented on either side of Wallace's Line since it was first proposed in 1859. Despite its importance, the temporal history of fragmentation across this line is virtually unknown and the geological foundation has rarely been discussed. Using molecular phylogenetics and dating techniques, we show that the split between taxa in the South East Asian and the Australian-New Guinean geological regions occurred during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in two independent lizard clades. This estimate is compatible with the hypothesis of rifting Gondwanan continental fragments during the Mesozoic and strongly rejects the hypothetical origin of various members of the Australian-New Guinean herpetofauna as relatively recent invasions from South East Asia. Our finding suggests an ancient fragmentation of lizard taxa on either side of Wallace's Line and provides further evidence that the composition of modern global communities has been significantly affected by rifting and accretion of Gondwanan continental plates during the Middle to Late Mesozoic

Climate, geographic distribution and viviparity in Liolaemus (Reptilia; Squamata) species: when hypotheses need to be tested

La distribución de los reptiles, dada su dependencia de la temperatura, puede verse restringida en función del clima. En particular, se han planteado tres hipótesis que vinculan el clima con la distribución y el viviparismo en las especies de reptiles: i) hipótesis de clima variable, ii) hipótesis del clima frío e iii) hipótesis de manipulación materna. Entre las lagartijas de Sudamérica las especies del género Liolaemus se distribuyen tanto en ambientes cálidos como fríos y más del 50 % de ellas son vivíparas. En este trabajo estudiamos 47 especies de Liolaemus, tomando datos climáticos de sus sitios de colecta, su temperatura de preferencia (Tpref), el coeficiente de variación de la misma (CV) y los límites de tolerancia térmica (TT). Nuestros resultados no apoyan la hipótesis de clima variable, aunque ésta ha sido sustentada en estudios anteriores. Se encontró relación entre viviparismo y altitud, pero no entre viviparismo y las variables térmicas ambientales. Finalmente, las especies vivíparas de Liolaemus mostraron un comportamiento termorregulador más preciso que las especies ovíparas, reforzando la hipótesis de manipulación materna.Reptile’ distributions, under the light of their strong dependence on particular temperature requirements, may be constrained as a consequence of climate. The relationship between reptile viviparity and climate yielded two previously proposed hypotheses (the cold climate and the maternal manipulation hypotheses) that together with the climatic variability hypothesis; theoretically link climate, distribution and reproductive mode. The extensive variation in mean environmental temperature associated with changes in parity strategies has received much attention in this ectothermic group. Among Southamerican lizards, Liolaemus are distributed in cold and warm regions and more than 50 % of described species are viviparous. We studied 47 Liolaemus species considering climatic data where collected, preferred body temperature, its coefficient of variation and their thermal tolerance. Our results do not support the climate variability hypothesis, previously supported in other studies. We found a relationship between viviparity and elevation, but not between viviparity and thermal climatic variables. Finally, viviparous Liolaemus species showed more precise thermoregulatory behavior than oviparous ones, supporting the maternal manipulation hypothesis.Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica de Argentina (PICT 06-01205) y Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones científicas y Tecnológicas (PIP 2846 y PIP 6287)

The Eurasian invasion: phylogenomic data reveal multiple Southeast Asian origins for Indian Dragon Lizards

A grant from the One-University Open Access Fund at the University of Kansas was used to defray the author's publication fees in this Open Access journal. The Open Access Fund, administered by librarians from the KU, KU Law, and KUMC libraries, is made possible by contributions from the offices of KU Provost, KU Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Studies, and KUMC Vice Chancellor for Research. For more information about the Open Access Fund, please see http://library.kumc.edu/authors-fund.xml.Background: The Indian Tectonic Plate split from Gondwanaland approximately 120 MYA and set the Indian subcontinent on a ~ 100 million year collision course with Eurasia. Many phylogenetic studies have demonstrated the Indian subcontinent brought with it an array of endemic faunas that evolved in situ during its journey, suggesting this isolated subcontinent served as a source of biodiversity subsequent to its collision with Eurasia. However, recent molecular studies suggest that Eurasia may have served as the faunal source for some of India’s biodiversity, colonizing the subcontinent through land bridges between India and Eurasia during the early to middle Eocene (~35–40 MYA). In this study we investigate whether the Draconinae subfamily of the lizard family Agamidae is of Eurasian or Indian origin, using a multi locus Sanger dataset and a novel dataset of 4536 ultraconserved nuclear element loci. Results: Results from our phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses revealed support for two independent colonizations of India from Eurasian ancestors during the early to late Eocene prior to the subcontinent’s hard collision with Eurasia. Conclusion: These results are consistent with other faunal groups and new geologic models that suggest ephemeral Eocene land bridges may have allowed for dispersal and exchange of floras and faunas between India and Eurasia during the Eocene

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente