Meeting Abstract
32.5 Sunday, Jan. 5 09:00 Phylogeography of the Four-lined Skinks, Plestiodon tetragrammus, in the Balcones Escarpment region of Texas MOSELEY, M. A.*; COX, C. L.; CHIPPINDALE, P. T.; University of Texas-Arlington; University of Virginia; University of Texas-Arlington mmoseley@uta.edu
Characterizing patterns of biodiversity is important for understanding the mechanisms underlying diversity and has broad applications for conservation (i.e., recognition of distinct lineages or species for conservation) and wildlife management (i.e., identifying areas with high levels of endemism). Understanding the relationships between species is crucial in the characterization of biodiversity. We seek to determine if there is any uncharacterized diversity within the skinks of the Plestiodon tetragrammus species group. This group is currently composed of 2 species, P. tetragrammus and P. multivirgatus. P. multivirgatus is distributed in western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona north to South Dakota, while the two subspecies of P. tetragrammus, P. t. tetragrammus, found in southern Texas and northern Mexico, and P. t. brevilineatus, found throughout central Texas and northern Mexico, are separated by a small hybridization zone in the Balcones Escarpment in south central Texas. We sequenced 3 mitochondrial and 4 nuclear genes and reconstructed evolutionary relationships using Bayesian, maximum likelihood, and parsimony. We found notable genetic variation across the geographic range of the P. tetragrammus species group. All analyses found that this species group is monophyletic, and that P. t. tetragrammus and P. t. brevilineatus are genetically divergent and form distinct evolutionary groups. Preliminary data suggests that the southern population of P. multivirgatus may be more closely related to P. t. brevilineatus than to P. t. tetragrammus suggesting revision of current taxonomy may be needed for accurate representation of the relationships between these taxa, thus giving a more accurate understanding of the biodiversity in Texas.
