title: Phylogeny of Neotropical Cercosaura (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) lizards.
abstract: Among Neotropical lizards, the geographically widespread gymnophthalmid Cercosaura as currently defined includes lowland and highland taxa from Panama to Argentina, with some species occurring in the northern Andes. In this study we analyze three mitochondrial (12S, 16S, ND4) and one nuclear (c-mos) gene using Bayesian methods to clarify the phylogenetic relationships among most species of Cercosaura based on a well-supported phylogenetic hypothesis that also includes a large sample of other taxa within Cercosaurini. The phylogenetic tree obtained in this paper shows that Cercosaura as currently defined is not monophyletic. Two species from the northern Andes (C. dicra and C. vertebralis) are nested within Pholidobolus, which has been formerly recognized as a major radiation along the Andes of Ecuador and Colombia. Therefore, Cercosaura has probably not diversified in the northern Andes, although the phylogenetic position of C. hypnoides from the Andes of Colombia remains unknown. Tree topology and genetic distances support both recognition of C. ocellata bassleri as a distinct species, C. bassleri, and recognition of C. argula and C. oshaughnessyi as two different species. In the interest of promoting clarity and precision regarding the names of clades of gymnophthalmid lizards, we propose a phylogenetic definition of Cercosaura.
authors.affiliation: Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Avenida 12 de Octubre y Roca, Apartado 17-01-2184, Quito, Ecuador. Electronic address: omartorcar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Torres-Carvajal
authors.affiliation: Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Avenida 12 de Octubre y Roca, Apartado 17-01-2184, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Simón E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Lobos
authors.affiliation: Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Avenida 12 de Octubre y Roca, Apartado 17-01-2184, Quito, Ecuador; División de Herpetología-Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI), Santa Rita N°105 36 Of. 202, Urb. Huertos de San Antonio, Surco, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Pablo J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Venegas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D004484:Ecuador; D008116:Lizards / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D009245:NADH Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics; D010568:Peru; D010802:Phylogeny; D017231:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mos / Q000235:genetics; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D030162:Reptilian Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; C075526:RNA, ribosomal, 12S; D030162:Reptilian Proteins; D009245:NADH Dehydrogenase; D017231:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mos
keywords: Andes; Cercosaurini; Gymnophthalmidae; Lizards; Phylogenetics; South America