Assessing species boundaries and the phylogenetic position of the rare Szechwan ratsnake, Euprepiophis perlaceus (Serpentes: Colubridae), using coalescent-based methods.
Delimiting species and clarifying phylogenetic relationships are the main goals of systematics. For species with questionable taxonomic status, species delimitation approaches using multi-species coalescent models with multiple loci are recommended if morphological data are unavailable or unhelpful. Moreover, these methods will also reduce subjectivity based on genetic distance or requirement of monophyletic genetic lineages. We determine the validity and phylogenetic position of a rare and long controversial species of Chinese reptile, the Szechwan ratsnake (Euprepiophis perlaceus), using multi-locus data from multiple individuals and coalescent-based approaches. Species were first delimited using Bayesian Phylogenetics & Phylogeography (BP&P), Brownie and Bayes Factor model comparison approaches, while relationships among species were estimated using species tree inference in (*)BEAST. Results indicate that Euprepiophis perlaceus is a distinct species sister to Euprepiophis mandarinus. Despite gene tree discrepancy, the coalescent model-based approaches used here demonstrate the taxonomic validity and the phylogenetic position of Euprepiophis perlaceus. These approaches objectively test the validity of questionable species diagnoses based on morphological characters and determine their phylogenetic position.
Department of Biology, The College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, 2800 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, NY 10314, United States; Department of Biology, The Graduate School and University Center, The City University of New York, 365 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10016, United States. Electronic address: xchen1@gc.cuny.edu.
Xin
X
Chen
Ke
K
Jiang
Peng
P
Guo
Song
S
Huang
Dingqi
D
Rao
Li
L
Ding
Hirohiko
H
Takeuchi
Jing
J
Che
Ya-ping
YP
Zhang
Edward A
EA
Myers
Frank T
FT
Burbrink
D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D017812:Colubridae / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
Coalescence; Euprepiophis perlaceus; Gene tree; Species delimitation; Species tree