Synthesis of morphological and phylogenetic patterns of the sourhternmost clade of South American lizards, the Liolaemus lineomaculatus section (Liolaemidae).

BREITMAN, M.F.; AVILA, L.J.; MORANDO, M.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Congreso; 2013 Joint Herpetological Meeting; 2013

0533 Poster Session II, NW Exhibit Hall, Saturday 13 July 2013; ASIH STORER HERPETOLOGY AWARD Maria Florencia Breitman, Luciano Javier Avila, Mariana Morando CENPAT-CONICET, Puerto Madryn, Argentina Synthesis of Morphological and Phylogenetic Patterns of the Southernmost Clade of South American Lizards, the Liolaemus lineomaculatus Section (Liolaemidae) Twenty-one species of lizards are included in the Liolaemus lineomaculatus section, which is the southernmost clade of South American lizards. Two hypotheses of species-grouping have been proposed for this section, one based on morphological similarities and another based on molecular phylogenetic relationships; although discordant, both are in use. The ?morphological arrangement hypothesis' sorts L. lineomaculatus section species into three morphological groups (kingii, archeforus and lineomaculatus); however, despite taxonomic changes and a doubling of described species diversity since it was proposed ~30 years ago, this hypothesis has never been tested. Here, we test the accuracy of the ?morphological arrangement hypothesis' using new morphological data from 34 characters (morphometric, meristic and qualitative) from ~350 individuals representing all species in the section. Using ANOVA and multivariate analyses (MANOVA, DFA), we show that the practice of classifying eleven of these species in the kingii and archeforus groups, which is not supported by molecular data, is similarly unsupported by morphological variation; thus, we recommend that this practice be abandoned. We suggest referring to this clade as the kingii group. We also found that the recently-proposed molecular groups/clades (magellanicus, lineomaculatus and kingii) are differentiated morphologically. Finally, we comment on future prospects for studying sexual dimorphism in the section and its possible ecological implications. Our review provides a critical synthesis of morphological and phylogenetic patterns, providing a useful framework for testing taxonomic hypotheses as well as physiological, behavioral and evolutionary questions within the L. lineomaculatus section.