title: A single origin of extreme matrotrophy in African mabuyine skinks.
abstract: Most mammals and approximately 20% of squamates (lizards and snakes) are viviparous, whereas all crocodilians, birds and turtles are oviparous. Viviparity evolved greater than 100 times in squamates, including multiple times in Mabuyinae (Reptilia: Scincidae), making this group ideal for studying the evolution of nutritional patterns associated with viviparity. Previous studies suggest that extreme matrotrophy, the support of virtually all of embryonic development by maternal nutrients, evolved as many as three times in Mabuyinae: in Neotropical Mabuyinae (63 species), Eumecia (2 species; Africa) and Trachylepis ivensii (Africa). However, no explicit phylogenetic hypotheses exist for understanding the evolution of extreme matrotrophy. Using multilocus DNA data, we inferred a species tree for Mabuyinae that implies that T. ivensii (here assigned to the resurrected genus Lubuya) is sister to Eumecia, suggesting that extreme matrotrophy evolved only once in African mabuyine skinks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Metallinou
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA jweine2@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jeffrey L
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9568-0672
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Weinell
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Karin
authors.affiliation: Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld), Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Conradie
authors.affiliation: Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Department of Herpetology and Ichthyology, Natural History Museum of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA.
authors.forename: Todd R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Jackman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA.
authors.forename: Aaron M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bauer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008116:Lizards; D010802:Phylogeny; D012911:Snakes; D014426:Turtles
keywords: Mabuyinae; Scincidae; phylogeny; placenta; viviparity