Molecular phylogeny of the Patagonian lizard group Liolaemus elongatus-kriegi (Iguania: Liolaemini) based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers

MEDINA, C.D.; AVILA, L.J.; SITES, J.W., JR.; MORANDO, M.

Quito

Congreso; XI Congreso Latinoamericano de Herpetologia; 2017

PUCE

The aim of this work is to propose the first comprehensive multi-locus phylogeny for the Liolaemuselongatus-kriegi group, including almost all species and recognized lineages. We used 123 individuals from 35 taxa, for which we sequenced seven gene regions (two mitochondrial and five nuclear). We implemented concatenated and species tree methods, and recovered the L. elongatus-kriegi group as monophyletic in two of the four analyses (concatenated mitochondrial and concatenated mitochondrial + nuclear gene trees). The mitochondrial gene tree resolved four haploclades, three corresponding to the previously recognized complexes: L. elongatus, L. kriegi and L. petrophilus complexes, and the L. punmahuida group. The species tree approach also resolved these three complexes, but included the L. punmahuida group within the L. kriegicomplex. Our study provides the first multilocus phylogenetic hypothesis for the L. elongatus-kriegi group, and we discuss possible reasons for differences in the concatenation and species tree methods.