Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Publication
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Phylogenetic Relationships Of Cottids (Pisces: Cottidae) In Upper Snake River Basin Of Western North America, Sun Yeong Oh
Phylogenetic Relationships Of Cottids (Pisces: Cottidae) In Upper Snake River Basin Of Western North America, Sun Yeong Oh
Theses and Dissertations
Freshwater sculpins (Cottus) are common throughout temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Their broad distribution in the Western North America makes them a good model for understanding phylogeographic relationships among western fishes. Within much of the interior west three lineages, C. bairdii, C. confusus, and the C. beldingii complex, are most prevalent. The distribution of these three overlap in the Snake River Basin. All occur below Shoshone Falls on the Snake River. However, only two currently reside in the Upper Snake River above the falls. An exception are the Lost River streams of central Idaho. While …
Stoneflies Of Unusual Size: Population Genetics And Systematics Within Pteronarcyidae (Plecoptera), John S. Sproul
Stoneflies Of Unusual Size: Population Genetics And Systematics Within Pteronarcyidae (Plecoptera), John S. Sproul
Theses and Dissertations
Chapter 1. The family Pteronarcyidae (Plecoptera) is a highly studied group of stoneflies and very important to a wide variety of aquatic studies. Several phylogenies have been proposed for this group recent decades, however there is little congruence between the various topologies. The present study revises the phylogeny of the group by combining molecular data from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit II, ribosomal subunit 12S, ribosomal subunit 16S, and nuclear loci ribosomal subinit 18S and Histone H3, with published morphological data in a parsimony-based total evidence analysis. The analysis produced a well-supported phylogeny with novel relationships within the genus Pteronarcys. …
Diversification And Conservation In The South American Dry Biomes: Distribution Modeling And Multilocus Lizard Phylogeography, Fernanda Werneck
Diversification And Conservation In The South American Dry Biomes: Distribution Modeling And Multilocus Lizard Phylogeography, Fernanda Werneck
Theses and Dissertations
The understanding of diversification of intraspecific lineages can shed light on speciation processes and ultimately biogeographic patterns across multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this dissertation I investigated the geographical and ecological factors promoting diversification across the South American dry diagonal biomes (i.e. Cerrado, Chaco, and Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests - SDTFs), through a coupled approach between multilocus phylogeographic and geospatial methods, in the larger context of interpreting the consequences of the resulting patterns for the conservation of biodiversity and evolutionary processes. In Chapter 1 I evaluate biogeographic hypotheses previously proposed and emphasize that the dry diagonal biomes are particularly …
The Phylogeography Of The Mountain Sucker [Catostomus (Pantosteus) Platyrhynchus], Nina Johanna Laitnen
The Phylogeography Of The Mountain Sucker [Catostomus (Pantosteus) Platyrhynchus], Nina Johanna Laitnen
Theses and Dissertations
Pantosteus, a subgenus of Catostomus, includes the mountain sucker (Catostomus playthyrnchus), whose speculated older origins in the Miocene/Pliocene can provide insight into the ancient geographical events of western North America. We believe that major geologic events influencing the diversification of mountain suckers include the rise of the Colorado Plateau, the connections between the ancient Snake River system and the Lahontan system and subsequently the connection of the Snake River system to the Columbia Basin, dispersal of mountain suckers across the continental divide, as well as the Pleistocene Bonneville flood. If this is true, we should see …
Biogeography Of The Livebearing Fish Poecilia Gillii In Costa Rica: Are Phylogeographic Breaks Congruent With Fish Community Boundaries?, Jared Benjamin Lee
Biogeography Of The Livebearing Fish Poecilia Gillii In Costa Rica: Are Phylogeographic Breaks Congruent With Fish Community Boundaries?, Jared Benjamin Lee
Theses and Dissertations
One of the original goals of phylogeography was to use genetic data to identify historical events that might contribute to breaks among biotic communities. In this study, we examine the phylogeography of a common livebearing fish (Poecilia gillii) from Costa Rica. Our goal was to see if phylogeographic breaks in this species were congruent with previously-defined boundaries among four fish community provinces. We hypothesized that if abiotic factors influence both community boundaries and genetic structuring in P. gillii then we would find four monophyletic clades within our focal species that were geographically separated along community boundary lines. Similarly, we expected …
Evolution In Neotropical Herpetofauna: Species Boundaries In High Andean Frogs And Evolutionary Genetics In The Lava Lizard Genus Microlophus (Squamata: Tropiduridae): A History Of Colonization And Dispersal, Edgar Benavides
Theses and Dissertations
In this collection of papers I have summarized my investigations into the field of evolutionary genetics and more specifically into patterns of biodiversity and evolutionary processes. The lizards (and frogs) studied here share common features in that they are largely present in unique environments, which are also regions that are biologically understudied. Most of these taxa show high degrees of endemism, interesting natural history characteristics, and each group manifests distinctive adaptations of general evolutionary interest. My work in the genus Telmatobius has been a progressive approach that began in my MS program, and it first focused on alpha taxonomy, morphological …
Phylogeographic Analyses Of Obligate And Facultative Cave Crayfish Species On The Cumberland Plateau Of The Southern Appalachians, Jennifer Elizabeth Buhay
Phylogeographic Analyses Of Obligate And Facultative Cave Crayfish Species On The Cumberland Plateau Of The Southern Appalachians, Jennifer Elizabeth Buhay
Theses and Dissertations
Cave systems and their unique biota are widely viewed as highly endangered, yet very little is known about basic life history, ecology, distributions, habitat requirements, and evolutionary relationships of subterranean species. The crux of the problem in cave studies is the assumption that traditionally defined morpho-species represent distinct evolutionary lineages. Convergence is exhibited in the morphologies of many animal groups, vertebrate and invertebrate, which leads to confusion in diagnosing species' boundaries, geographic distributions, gene flow routes, and imperilment. This dissertation research includes phylogeographic analyses of freshwater cave-dwelling crayfishes in the Southern Appalachians, a global hotspot of subterranean biodiversity. By examining …
Phylogenetic History, Morphological Parallelism, And Speciation In A Complex Of Appalachian Salamanders (Genus: Desmognathus), Nathan D. Jackson
Phylogenetic History, Morphological Parallelism, And Speciation In A Complex Of Appalachian Salamanders (Genus: Desmognathus), Nathan D. Jackson
Theses and Dissertations
Understanding the mechanisms that generate shared morphologies across closely related taxa is important when identifying distinct evolutionary lineages using morphological characters. Desmognathus salamanders are an ideal group for testing hypotheses concerning the correlation between morphological similarity and genetic exchange within and among nominal species due to a pattern of high discordance between the two. Phylogeographic hypotheses are tested for populations of the D. quadramaculatus species complex throughout southern Appalachia by combining phylogenetic and population genetic methods with geographical information. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic inferences are then assessed in conjunction with morphological characteristics that have traditionally diagnosed taxonomic entities to understand the …
Testing Species Boundaries In An Ancient Species Complex With Deep Phylogeographic History: Genus Xantusia (Squamata: Xantusiidae), Keith A. Crandall, Elizabeth A. Sinclair, Robert L. Bezy, Kathryn Bolles, Jose L. Camarillo, Jack W. Sites
Testing Species Boundaries In An Ancient Species Complex With Deep Phylogeographic History: Genus Xantusia (Squamata: Xantusiidae), Keith A. Crandall, Elizabeth A. Sinclair, Robert L. Bezy, Kathryn Bolles, Jose L. Camarillo, Jack W. Sites
Faculty Publications
Identification of species in natural populations has recently received increased attention with a number of investigators proposing rigorous methods for species delimitation. Morphologically conservative species (or species complexes) with deep phylogenetic histories (and limited gene flow) are likely to pose particular problems when attempting to delimit species, yet this is crucial to comparative studies of the geography of speciation. We apply two methods of species delimitation to an ancient group of lizards (genus Xantusia) that occur throughout southwestern North America. Mitochondrial cytochrome b and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 4 gene sequences were generated from samples taken throughout the geographic …