Integrative Taxonomy in southern Patagonia: niche models, phylogeography and morphological variation in four species of Liolaemus lizards (Liolaemini)

BREITMAN MARÍA FLORENCIA; MARCELO FABIAN BONINO; SITES JR JW; AVILA LUCIANO JAVIER; MORANDO MARIANA

Congreso; Evolution 2013. American Society of Naturalists Society for the Study of Evolution Society of Systematic Biologists; 2013

Twenty-one species of lizards are included in the Liolaemus lineomaculatus section, whichis the southernmost clade of South American lizards. Two hypotheses of speciesgroupinghave been proposed for this section, one based on morphological similaritiesand another based on molecular phylogenetic relationships; although discordant, bothare in use. The ?morphological arrangement hypothesis´ sorts L. lineomaculatus sectionspecies into three morphological groups (kingii, archeforus and lineomaculatus); however,despite taxonomic changes and a doubling of described species diversity since it wasproposed ~30 years ago, this hypothesis has never been tested. Here, we test theaccuracy of the ?morphological arrangement hypothesis´ using new morphological datafrom 34 characters (morphometric, meristic and qualitative) from ~350 individualsrepresenting all species in the section. Using ANOVA and multivariate analyses(MANOVA, DFA), we show that the practice of classifying eleven of these species in thekingii and archeforus groups, which is not supported by molecular data, is similarlyunsupported by morphological variation; thus, we recommend that this practice beabandoned. We suggest referring to this clade as the kingii group. We also found that therecently-proposed molecular groups/clades (magellanicus, lineomaculatus and kingii) aredifferentiated morphologically. Finally, we comment on future prospects for studyingsexual dimorphism in the section and its possible ecological implications. Our reviewprovides a critical synthesis of morphological and phylogenetic patterns, providing auseful framework for testing taxonomic hypotheses as well as physiological, behavioraland evolutionary questions within the L. lineomaculatus section.