Alexandra D. Hahn is an undergraduate student in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University.
Donald B. Shepard is an Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University

Hahn, Alexandra D.

Shepard, Donald B.

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Louisiana Tech UniversityLouisiana Tech Digital CommonsANS Research Symposium ANS Research Symposium 2018Apr 12th, 8:30 AM - 11:30 AMMultilocus Genetic Investigation of Species Limitsin the Caddo Mountain Salamander (Plethodoncaddoensis)Alexandra D. HahnLouisiana Tech UniversityDonald B. ShepardLouisiana Tech UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.latech.edu/ans-research-symposiumThis Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences and Symposia at Louisiana Tech Digital Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in ANS Research Symposium by an authorized administrator of Louisiana Tech Digital Commons. For more information, please contactdigitalcommons@latech.edu.Recommended CitationHahn, Alexandra D. and Shepard, Donald B., "Multilocus Genetic Investigation of Species Limits in the Caddo Mountain Salamander(Plethodon caddoensis)" (2018). ANS Research Symposium. 21.https://digitalcommons.latech.edu/ans-research-symposium/2018/poster-presentations/21 33    Multilocus Genetic Investigation of Species Limits in the Caddo Mountain Salamander (Plethodon caddoensis)  Alexandra D. Hahn1, Donald B. Shepard2  1Undergraduate Student, School of Biological Sciences, Louisiana Tech University 2Assistant Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Louisiana Tech University ___________________________________________________________________________  Biodiversity conservation is vital for maintaining healthy functioning ecosystems and requires accurate knowledge of species diversity. However, delimiting species can be challenging when different species are similar in appearance. In such cases, genetic data can be used to correctly identify species and define their ranges. The Caddo Mountain Salamander (Plethodon caddoensis) is a terrestrial forest-dwelling salamander endemic to a small section of the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. Previous work using mitochondrial DNA found the species comprises four phylogeographic lineages with genetic divergences as high as those typically observed between distinct species of Plethodon. At this level of divergence, we might expect the Caddo Mountain Salamander to contain multiple species with no obvious visual differences between them. To identify species within P. caddoensis, we sequenced multiple nuclear loci for 6–10 individuals from each of the four phylogeographic lineages and performed several analyses for delimiting species using genetic data. We conclude there is a high likelihood that P. caddoensis is composed of more than one species. Future work will incorporate additional nuclear loci and use morphometric analysis to determine if species delimited using genetic-based methods can be distinguished morphologically.                        

Multilocus Genetic Investigation of Species Limits in the Caddo Mountain Salamander (Plethodon caddoensis)

https://digitalcommons.latech.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&amp;context=ans-research-symposium

Multilocus Genetic Investigation of Species Limits in the Caddo Mountain Salamander (Plethodon caddoensis)

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