Patterns, mechanisms and genetics of speciation in reptiles and amphibians

Wollenberg Valero, Katharina C.; Marshall, Jonathon C; Bastiaans, Elizabeth; Caccone, Adalgisa; Camargo, Arley; Morando, Mariana; Niemiller, Matthew L; Pabijan, Maciej; Russello, Michael A; Sinervo, Barry; Werneck, Fernanda P; Sites, Jr., Jack W; Wiens, John J; Steinfartz, Sebastian

Abstract

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. In this contribution, the aspects of reptile and amphibian speciation that emerged from research performed over the past decade are reviewed. First, this study assesses how patterns and processes of speciation depend on knowing the taxonomy of the group in question, and discuss how integrative taxonomy has contributed to speciation research in these groups. This study then reviews the research on different aspects of speciation in reptiles and amphibians, including biogeography and climatic niches, ecological speciation, the relationship between speciation rates and phenotypic traits, and genetics and genomics. Further, several case studies of speciation in reptiles and amphibians that exemplify many of these themes are discussed. These include studies of integrative taxonomy and biogeography in South American lizards, ecological speciation in European salamanders, speciation and phenotypic evolution in frogs and lizards. The final case study combines genomics and biogeography in tortoises. The field of amphibian and reptile speciation research has steadily moved forward from the assessment of geographic and ecological aspects, to incorporating other dimensions of speciation, such as genetic mechanisms and evolutionary forces. A higher degree of integration among all these dimensions emerges as a goal for future research.

Citation

Wollenberg Valero, K. C., Marshall, J. C., Bastiaans, E., Caccone, A., Camargo, A., Morando, M., …Steinfartz, S. (2019). Patterns, mechanisms and genetics of speciation in reptiles and amphibians. Genes, 10(9), Article 646. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10090646

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Aug 5, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Aug 26, 2019
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 13, 2018
• Journal: Genes
• Electronic ISSN: 2073-4425
• Publisher: MDPI
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 9
• Article Number: 646
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10090646
• Keywords: Speciation; Niche; Phylogeography; Species delineation; Ecological speciation
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1150706
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/10/9/646
• Additional Information: © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution; (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).; ; This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Genetics of Reptiles and Amphibians.