Molecular phylogeny of Panaspis and Afroablepharus skinks (Squamata: Scincidae) in the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa.
African snake-eyed skinks are relatively small lizards of the genera Panaspis and Afroablepharus. Species allocation of these genera frequently changed during the 20th century based on morphology, ecology, and biogeography. Members of these genera occur primarily in savanna habitats throughout sub-Saharan Africa and include species whose highly conserved morphology poses challenges for taxonomic studies. We sequenced two mitochondrial (16S and cyt b) and two nuclear genes (PDC and RAG1) from 76 Panaspis and Afroablepharus samples from across eastern, central, and southern Africa. Concatenated gene-tree and divergence-dating analyses were conducted to infer phylogenies and biogeographic patterns. Molecular data sets revealed several cryptic lineages, with most radiations occurring during the mid-Miocene to Pliocene. We infer that rifting processes (including the formation of the East African Rift System) and climatic oscillations contributed to the expansion and contraction of savannas, and caused cladogenesis in snake-eyed skinks. Species in Panaspis and Afroablepharus used in this study, including type species for both genera, formed a monophyletic group. As a result, the latter genus should be synonymized with the former, which has priority. Conservatively, we continue to include the West African species P. breviceps and P. togoensis within an expanded Panaspis, but note that they occur in relatively divergent clades, and their taxonomic status may change with improved taxon sampling. Divergence estimates and cryptic speciation patterns of snake-eyed skinks were consistent with previous studies of other savanna vertebrate lineages from the same areas examined in this study.
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA.
Maria F
MF
Medina
Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA.
Aaron M
AM
Bauer
Bayworld, P.O. Box 11347, Humewood 6013, South Africa; Department of Zoology, P.O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa.
William R
WR
Branch
Natural History Museum of Geneva, Department of Herpetology and Ichthyology, C.P. 6434, CH-1211 Geneva 6, Switzerland.
Andreas
A
Schmitz
Bayworld, P.O. Box 11347, Humewood 6013, South Africa; South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, P/Bag 10115, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa.
Werner
W
Conradie
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, OD Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Zoltán T
ZT
Nagy
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, 210 Nagle Hall, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Toby J
TJ
Hibbitts
Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde), Senckenberg Natural History Collections, Dresden, Königsbrücker Landstr. 159, D-01109 Dresden, Germany.
Raffael
R
Ernst
Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, 501 South Nedderman Drive, Arlington, TX 76010, USA.
Daniel M
DM
Portik
Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677, USA.
Stuart V
SV
Nielsen
Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677, USA.
Timothy J
TJ
Colston
Laboratoire d'Herpétologie, Département de Biologie, Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles, Lwiro, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Chifundera
C
Kusamba
Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
Mathias
M
Behangana
Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (Museum für Naturkunde), Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
Mark-Oliver
MO
Rödel
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA. Electronic address: egreenbaum2@utep.edu.
Eli
E
Greenbaum
D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D000353:Africa, Southern; D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D065948:Grassland; D008116:Lizards / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D030162:Reptilian Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D030162:Reptilian Proteins
Biogeography; Cryptic; Divergence; Lizard; Speciation