Multilocus phylogeny of the widely distributed South American lizard clade Eulaemus (Liolaemini, Liolaemus)

OLAVE, M.; AVILA, L. J.; SITES, J.W., JR.; MORANDO, M.

ZOOLOGICA SCRIPTA

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2014

0300-3256

The lizard genus Liolaemus and different clades within it have been the focus of several recent phylogenetic studies mainly based on morphology and mtDNA. Although there is general consensus for recognizing two clades (subgenera) within the genus, (Liolaemus [sensu stricto] and Eulaemus), phylogenetic relationships within each subgenus remain difficult to elucidate, given incomplete taxonomic sampling and large discordance between published studies. Here new phylogenetic relationships for the Eulaemus subgenus are proposed based on the largest molecular dataset ever used for this clade, which includes 188 individuals and 14 loci representing different parts of the genome (mtDNA, anonymous nuclear loci and nuclear protein-coding loci). This dataset was analyzed using two species tree approaches (*BEAST and MDC). Levels of discordance among methods were found, and with previously published studies, but results are robust enough to propose new phylogenetic hypotheses for the Eulaemus clade. Specifically well-resolved and well-supported novel hypotheses are provided: zullyae clade, sarmientoi clade, and the hatcheri group within the lineomaculatus section, as well as resolving relationships at species level within the montanus section. Also discordance between mitochondrial and nuclear trees were found and discussed for the lineomaculatus and montanus sections. The challenge of resolving phylogenetic relationships for large clades is discussed, given large discordance of independent gene trees (i.e. incomplete lineage sorting).