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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Simon MaddockORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2024 The AuthorsUnusually for oceanic islands, the granitic Seychelles host multiple lineages of endemic amphibians. This includes an ancient (likely ca. 60 million years) radiation of eight caecilian species, most of which occur on multiple islands. These caecilians have a complicated taxonomic history and their phylogenetic inter-species relationships have been difficult to resolve. Double-digest RAD sequencing (ddRADseq) has been applied extensively to phylogeography and increasingly to phylogenetics but its utility for resolving ancient divergences is less well established. To address this, we applied ddRADseq to generate a genome-wide SNP panel for phylogenomic analyses of the Seychelles caecilians, whose phylogeny has so far not been satisfactorily resolved with traditional DNA markers. Based on 129,154 SNPs, we resolved deep and shallow splits, with strong support. Our findings demonstrate the capability of genome-wide SNPs for evolutionary inference at multiple taxonomic levels and support the recently proposed synonymy of Grandisonia Taylor, 1968 with Hypogeophis Peters, 1879. We revealed three clades of Hypogeophis (large-, medium- and short-bodied) and identify a single origin of the diminutive, stocky-bodied and pointy-snouted phenotype.
Author(s): Sherlock MB, Streicher JW, Gower DJ, Maddock ST, Nussbaum RA, Oommen OV, Serra Silva A, Day JJ, Wilkinson M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Year: 2024
Volume: 198
Print publication date: 01/09/2024
Online publication date: 16/06/2024
Acceptance date: 15/06/2024
Date deposited: 09/07/2024
ISSN (print): 1055-7903
ISSN (electronic): 1095-9513
Publisher: Academic Press Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108130
DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108130
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