title: Phylogeny and biogeography of the Anderson's crocodile newt, Echinotriton andersoni (Amphibia: Caudata), as revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences.
abstract: The Anderson's crocodile newt, Echinotriton andersoni, is considered a relic and endangered species distributed in the Central Ryukyus. To elucidate phylogenetic relationships and detailed genetic structures among populations, we analyzed variation in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Results strongly support a primary dichotomy between populations from the Amami and Okinawa Island Groups with substantial genetic divergence, favoring a primary divergence between the two island groups. Within the latter, populations from the southern part of Okinawajima Island are shown to be more closely related to those from Tokashikijima Island than to those from the northern and central parts of Okinawajima. The prominent genetic divergence between the two island groups of the Central Ryukyus seems to have initiated in the Miocene, i.e., prior to formation of the strait that has consistently separated these island groups since the Pleistocene. The ancestor of the southern Okinawajima-Tokashikijima is estimated to have migrated from the northern and central parts of Okinawajima into southern Okinawajima at the Pleistocene, and dispersed into Tokashikijima subsequently.
authors: Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan.
authors: Masanao
authors: M
authors: Honda
authors: Masafumi
authors: M
authors: Matsui
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Tominaga
authors: Hidetoshi
authors: H
authors: Ota
authors: Satoshi
authors: S
authors: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D056727:Endangered Species; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005828:Genetics, Population; D062312:Islands; D007564:Japan; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D012455:Salamandridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D045303:Cytochromes b