Phylogeny and evolutionary morphology of Neotropical pitvipers

GRAZZIOTIN, F. G.; SCROCCHI, G.; CARRASCO, P. A.; MATTONI, C. I.; KOCH, C.

Rodeo

Congreso; III Biology of Pitvipers Symposium; 2019

Chiricahua Desert Museum

The Neotropical pitvipers display an enormous diversity and their systematics, at different taxonomic levels, is complex. However, the integrated approach of morphological, genetic and ecological aspects allows us to recreate evolutionary scenarios from which to infer historical processes involved in their current diversity, to express this diversity in the taxonomy of the group, and to evaluate whether the classifications reflect the relationships adequately. We show the results of a phylogenetic analysis of nine Neotropical pitvipers genera, which included newly identified species and candidate species within the genus Bothrops, and a total of 22 genera representing the three subfamilies of Viperidae (Viperinae,Crotalinae and Azemiopinae). The phylogenetic inference was based on characters from external, hemipenial and cranial morphology, and five mitochondrial and four nuclear gene sequences. Combined and partitioned analyses were performed for 87 terminal taxa, using maximum parsimony methodology and Pareas carinatus (Pareidae) for rooting the trees. The results confirmed the monophyly of a large part of the lineages currently recognized, such as groups of genera and species groups; however, the position of some taxa was unstable. Additionally, we optimized the morphological characters in the total-evidence phylogeny obtained to interpret inter- and intra-generic transformations, and to detect synapomorphies, convergences, and correlations with ecological characteristics. The results also highlighted the need to analyze other aspects of Neotropical pitvipers, such us geographical patterns in some intraspecific morphological variation and the taxonomic status of some species with wide distributions.