title: Phylogenetic relationships of Amazonian anole lizards (Dactyloa): taxonomic implications, new insights about phenotypic evolution and the timing of diversification.
abstract: The ecology and evolution of Caribbean anoles are well described, yet little is known about mainland anole species. Lack of phylogenetic information limits our knowledge about species boundaries, morphological evolution, and the biogeography of anoles in South America. To help fill this gap, we provide an updated molecular phylogeny of the Dactyloa (Dactyloidae), with emphasis on the punctata species group. By sampling understudied Amazonian taxa, we (i) assess the phylogenetic placement of the 'odd anole', D. dissimilis; (ii) infer the relationships of the proboscis-bearing D. phyllorhina, testing the hypothesis of independent nasal appendage evolution within the anole radiation; and (iii) examine genetic and dewlap color variation in D. punctata and D. philopunctata. Combining multiple nuclear loci with a review of the fossil record, we also (iv) estimate divergence times within the pleurodont iguanian clade of lizards, including Amazonian representatives of Dactyloa and Norops (Dactyloidae) and of Polychrus (Polychrotidae). We recover the five Dactyloa clades previously referred to as the aequatorialis, heteroderma, latifrons, punctata and roquet species groups, as well as a sixth clade composed of D. dissimilis and the non-Amazonian D. neblinina and D. calimae. We find D. phyllorhina to be nested within the punctata group, suggesting independent evolution of the anole proboscis. We consistently recover D. philopunctata nested within D. punctata, and report limited genetic divergence between distinct dewlap phenotypes. The most recent common ancestor of Dactyloa, Anolis and Norops dates back to the Eocene. Most Amazonian taxa within both Dactyloa and Norops diverged in the Miocene, but some diversification events were as old as the late Eocene and late Oligocene. Amazonian Polychrus diverged in the Pliocene. Our findings have broad implications for anole biogeography, disputing recent suggestions that modern dactyloid genera were present in the Caribbean region during the Cretaceous.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, City College of New York, New York, NY, USA; Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: ivanprates@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Prates
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: mturodri@usp.br.
authors.forename: Miguel Trefaut
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Manejo de Recursos Naturais and Laboratório de Herpetologia, Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, AC, Brazil; União Educacional do Norte, Rio Branco, AC, Brazil. Electronic address: prmelosampaio@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Paulo Roberto
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Melo-Sampaio
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, City College of New York, New York, NY, USA; Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: acarnaval@ccny.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Ana Carolina
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Carnaval
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005580:Fossils; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008116:Lizards / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013020:South America
keywords: Amazon; Anolis; Divergence time estimation; Iguania; Mainland; Polychrotidae