Premium
THE CHALLENGE OF SPECIES DELIMITATION AT THE EXTREMES: DIVERSIFICATION WITHOUT MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGE IN PHILIPPINE SUN SKINKS
Author(s) -
Barley Anthony J.,
White Jordan,
Diesmos Arvin C.,
Brown Rafe M.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/evo.12219
Subject(s) - biology , coalescent theory , evolutionary biology , lineage (genetic) , genetic diversity , diversification (marketing strategy) , biodiversity , adaptive radiation , genetic divergence , phylogenetics , divergence (linguistics) , range (aeronautics) , phylogeography , ecology , genetics , gene , materials science , marketing , population , linguistics , philosophy , demography , sociology , business , composite material
An accurate understanding of species diversity is essential to studies across a wide range of biological subdisciplines. However, delimiting species remains challenging in evolutionary radiations where morphological diversification is rapid and accompanied by little genetic differentiation or when genetic lineage divergence is not accompanied by morphological change. We investigate the utility of a variety of recently developed approaches to examine genetic and morphological diversity, and delimit species in a morphologically conserved group of Southeast Asian lizards. We find that species diversity is vastly underestimated in this unique evolutionary radiation, and find an extreme case where extensive genetic divergence among lineages has been accompanied by little to no differentiation in external morphology. Although we note that different conclusions can be drawn when species are delimited using molecular phylogenetics, coalescent‐based methods, or morphological data, it is clear that the use of a pluralistic approach leads to a more comprehensive appraisal of biodiversity, and greater appreciation for processes of diversification in this biologically important geographic region. Similarly, our approach demonstrates how recently developed methodologies can be used to obtain robust estimates of species limits in “nonadaptive” or “cryptic” evolutionary radiations.