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A preliminary study, using multivariate analysis, of a species complex of African house snakes (Boaedon fuliginosus)
Author(s) -
Thorpe R. S.,
McCarthy C. J.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03303.x
Subject(s) - biology , systematics , species complex , zoology , ecology , evolutionary biology , taxonomy (biology) , phylogenetic tree , gene , biochemistry
systematics of Black and Lined house snakes from the Boaedon fuliginosus species complex were investigated using the limited amount of readily available material. These two forms have recently been regarded both as separate species, and as conspecific morphs. Multivariate and univariate biometrics indicate that in West Africa these two forms are separate species, B. fuliginosus (Black house snake) and B. lineatus (Lined house snake). However, in the rest of Africa these two forms appear to be the conspecific morphs of a single species which is provisionally and tentatively regarded as B. fuliginosus even though it is predominantly striped. There is evidence of “character shift” and this species complex may pose some interesting problems for the concepts of “gene pool cohesion” and “phenetic species”.