Evolutionary diversification of the lizard genus Bassiana (Scincidae) across Southern Australia.
BACKGROUND: Relatively recent (Plio-Pleistocene) climatic variations had strong impacts on the fauna and flora of temperate-zone North America and Europe; genetic analyses suggest that many lineages were restricted to unglaciated refuges during this time, and have expanded their ranges since then. T...
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2010-01-01
|
Series: | PLoS ONE |
Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2945320?pdf=render |
id |
doaj-d53dbbd98ac7432c810725be72daa4fe |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-d53dbbd98ac7432c810725be72daa4fe2020-11-25T01:42:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032010-01-0159e1298210.1371/journal.pone.0012982Evolutionary diversification of the lizard genus Bassiana (Scincidae) across Southern Australia.Sylvain DubeyRichard ShineBACKGROUND: Relatively recent (Plio-Pleistocene) climatic variations had strong impacts on the fauna and flora of temperate-zone North America and Europe; genetic analyses suggest that many lineages were restricted to unglaciated refuges during this time, and have expanded their ranges since then. Temperate-zone Australia experienced less severe glaciation, suggesting that patterns of genetic structure among species may reflect older (aridity-driven) divergence events rather than Plio-Pleistocene (thermally-mediated) divergences. The lizard genus Bassiana (Squamata, Scincidae) contains three species that occur across a wide area of southern Australia (including Tasmania), rendering them ideally-suited to studies on the impact of past climatic fluctuations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed molecular phylogenetic and dating analyses using two partial mitochondrial genes (ND2 and ND4) of 97 samples of Bassiana spp. Our results reveal a pattern of diversification beginning in the Middle Miocene, with intraspecific diversification arising from 5.7 to 1.7 million years ago in the Upper Miocene-Lower Pleistocene. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In contrast to the temperate-zone Northern Hemisphere biota, patterns of evolutionary diversification within southern Australian taxa appear to reflect geologically ancient events, mostly relating to east-west discontinuities imposed by aridity rather than (as is the case in Europe and North America) relatively recent recolonisation of northern regions from unglaciated refugia to the south.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2945320?pdf=render |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Sylvain Dubey Richard Shine |
spellingShingle |
Sylvain Dubey Richard Shine Evolutionary diversification of the lizard genus Bassiana (Scincidae) across Southern Australia. PLoS ONE |
author_facet |
Sylvain Dubey Richard Shine |
author_sort |
Sylvain Dubey |
title |
Evolutionary diversification of the lizard genus Bassiana (Scincidae) across Southern Australia. |
title_short |
Evolutionary diversification of the lizard genus Bassiana (Scincidae) across Southern Australia. |
title_full |
Evolutionary diversification of the lizard genus Bassiana (Scincidae) across Southern Australia. |
title_fullStr |
Evolutionary diversification of the lizard genus Bassiana (Scincidae) across Southern Australia. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evolutionary diversification of the lizard genus Bassiana (Scincidae) across Southern Australia. |
title_sort |
evolutionary diversification of the lizard genus bassiana (scincidae) across southern australia. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
series |
PLoS ONE |
issn |
1932-6203 |
publishDate |
2010-01-01 |
description |
BACKGROUND: Relatively recent (Plio-Pleistocene) climatic variations had strong impacts on the fauna and flora of temperate-zone North America and Europe; genetic analyses suggest that many lineages were restricted to unglaciated refuges during this time, and have expanded their ranges since then. Temperate-zone Australia experienced less severe glaciation, suggesting that patterns of genetic structure among species may reflect older (aridity-driven) divergence events rather than Plio-Pleistocene (thermally-mediated) divergences. The lizard genus Bassiana (Squamata, Scincidae) contains three species that occur across a wide area of southern Australia (including Tasmania), rendering them ideally-suited to studies on the impact of past climatic fluctuations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed molecular phylogenetic and dating analyses using two partial mitochondrial genes (ND2 and ND4) of 97 samples of Bassiana spp. Our results reveal a pattern of diversification beginning in the Middle Miocene, with intraspecific diversification arising from 5.7 to 1.7 million years ago in the Upper Miocene-Lower Pleistocene. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In contrast to the temperate-zone Northern Hemisphere biota, patterns of evolutionary diversification within southern Australian taxa appear to reflect geologically ancient events, mostly relating to east-west discontinuities imposed by aridity rather than (as is the case in Europe and North America) relatively recent recolonisation of northern regions from unglaciated refugia to the south. |
url |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2945320?pdf=render |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT sylvaindubey evolutionarydiversificationofthelizardgenusbassianascincidaeacrosssouthernaustralia AT richardshine evolutionarydiversificationofthelizardgenusbassianascincidaeacrosssouthernaustralia |
_version_ |
1725035924961624064 |