The taxonomy of giant Galapagos tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.) is currently based primarily on morphological characters and island of origin. Over the last decade, compelling genetic evidence has accumulated for multiple independent evolutionary lineages, spurring the need for taxonomic revision. On the island of Santa Cruz there is currently a single named species, C. porteri. Recent genetic and morphological studies have shown that, within this taxon, there are two evolutionarily and spatially distinct lineages on the western and eastern sectors of the island, known as the Reserva and Cerro Fatal populations, respectively. Analyses of DNA from natural populations and museum specimens, including the type specimen for C. porteri, confirm the genetic distinctiveness of these two lineages and support elevation of the Cerro Fatal tortoises to the rank of species. In this paper, we identify DNA characters that define this new species, and infer evolutionary relationships relative to other species of Galapagos tortoises.

No abstract

We describe a new cryptic species of leopard frog from the New York City metropolitan area and surrounding coastal regions. This species is morphologically similar to two largely parapatric eastern congeners, Rana sphenocephala and R. pipiens. We primarily use bioacoustic and molecular data to characterize the new species, but also examine other lines of evidence. This discovery is unexpected in one of the largest and most densely populated urban parts of the world. It also demonstrates that new vertebrate species can still be found periodically even in well-studied locales rarely associated with undocumented biodiversity. The new species typically occurs in expansive open-canopied wetlands interspersed with upland patches, but centuries of loss and impact to these habitats give some cause for conservation concern. Other concerns include regional extirpations, fragmented extant populations, and a restricted overall geographic distribution. We assign a type locality within New York City and report a narrow and largely coastal lowland distribution from central Connecticut to northern New Jersey (based on genetic data) and south to North Carolina (based on call data).

the salamander chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans [Bsal]) is causing massive mortality of salamanders in europe. the potential for spread via international trade into north America and the high diversity of salamanders has catalyzed concern about Bsal in the U.S. Surveillance programs for invading pathogens must initially meet challenges that include low rates of occurrence on the landscape, low prevalence at a site, and imperfect detection of the diagnostic tests. We implemented a large-scale survey to determine if Bsal was present in north America designed to target taxa and localities where Bsal was determined highest risk to be present based on species susceptibility and geography. our analysis included a Bayesian model to estimate the probability of occurrence of Bsal given our prior knowledge of the occurrence and prevalence of the pathogen. We

Predicting the response of endemic species to urbanization has emerged as a fundamental challenge in 21st century conservation biology. The factors that underlie population declines of reptiles are particularly nebulous, as these are often the least understood class of vertebrates in a given community. In this study, we assess correlations between feeding ecology and phenotypic traits of the Lesser Antillean endemic Dutch leaf-toed gecko, Phyllodactylus martini, along an urban gradient in the Caribbean island of Curaçao. There has been a marked decline of this species in developed habitats associated with the invasive tropical house gecko Hemidactylus mabouia. We find a correlation between aspects of locomotor morphology and prey in undeveloped habitats that is absent in developed habitats. Analyses of stomach contents further suggest that Phyllodactylus martini alters primary prey items in developed areas. However, changes in prey promote the overlap in foraging niches between Phyllodactylus martini and Hemidactylus mabouia, suggesting that direct resource competition is contributing to the decline of Phyllodactylus martini. In addition to competitive exclusion, we suggest that the urban extirpation of Phyllodactylus martini could also be attributed to a top-down control on population growth by Hemidactylus mabouia. Colonizations of walls put Phyllodactylus martini in direct contact with Hemidactylus mabouia increasing the chances for predation events, as evidenced by our observation of a predation event on a Phyllodactylus martini juvenile by an adult Hemidactylus mabuoia. In total, our results add to a growing body of literature demonstrating the threat that invasive synanthropic reptiles pose to endemics that might otherwise be able to cope with increased urbanization pressures.

The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest and most broadly distributed crocodilian species, and thus is of special conservation and economic interest. Similar to other parts of its range throughout the Indo-Pacific, C. porosus distributed in the Republic of Palau have experienced a severe population decline over the past century primarily due to commercial hunting and eradication campaigns. In addition, several thousand crocodiles of undocumented species and origin were imported into Palau during the 1930's for commercial farming purposes, potentially polluting the gene pool of the endemic saltwater crocodiles. Analysis of 39 individuals collected throughout the Republic of Palau revealed a single mitochondrial DNA control region haplotype shared by populations sampled in Sulawesi, Borneo and Australia. The mtDNA results, in combination with microsatellite genotypic data at six loci, detected no evidence for inter-specific hybridization between endemic Palauan C. porosus and potentially introduced Crocodylus species. There was no evidence for a genetic bottleneck in the Palauan population, however an excess of rare alleles was identified, indirectly suggesting a recent history of admixture potentially linked to introductions of non-native C. porosus. Following from these findings, Palauan C. porosus should be included in the single ESU previously established for all saltwater crocodiles given the recovery of a fixed, but geographically widespread haplotype. Although Palauan C. porosus exhibited significant genetic differentiation relative to all other sampled populations, it's delineation as a distinct management unit is precluded at the present time by evidence that the genetic integrity of the population may have been compromised by the introduction of non-native saltwater crocodiles.

The phylogenetic utility of targeted enrichment methods has been demonstrated in 34 taxa that often have a history of single gene marker development. These genomic capture 35 methods are now being applied to resolve evolutionary relationships from deep to shallow 36 timescales in clades that were previously deficient in molecular marker development and 37 lacking robust morphological characters that reflect evolutionary relationships. Effectively 38 capturing 1000s of loci, however, in a diverse group across a broad time scale requires a bait 39 set that incorporates multiple baits per locus. We redesigned a custom bait set for the 40 cnidarian class Anthozoa to target 1,436 UCE loci and 1,572 exon regions within the subclass 41 Hexacorallia. We test this redesigned bait set on 99 specimens of hard corals (Scleractinia) 42 spanning both the "complex" (Acroporidae, Agariciidae) and "robust" (Fungiidae) clades. 43With focused sampling in the staghorn coral genus Acropora we explore the ability of capture 44 data to inform the taxonomy of a clade deficient in molecular resolution. A mean of 1850 (± 45 298) loci were captured per taxon (955 UCEs, 894 exons). A 75% complete concatenated 46 alignment included 1792 loci (991 UCE, 801 exons) and ~1.87 million base pairs. Parsimony 47 informative sites varied from 48% for alignments including all three families, to 1.5% among 48 samples within a single Acropora species. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses 49 recover highly resolved topologies and robust molecular relationships not previously found 50 with traditional markers within the Acroporidae. Species level relationships within the 51 Acropora genus do not support traditional morphological groups or morphological 52 phylogenies. Both UCE and exon datasets delineated six well-supported clades within 53 Acropora. The enhanced bait set for Hexacorallia will allow researchers to survey the 54 evolutionary history of important groups of reef building corals where previous molecular 55 marker development has been unsuccessful.56 57 58 3 104 photosymbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates of the family Symbiodiniaceae, which 105 mainly restricts both hermatypic corals and coral reefs to shallow tropical and sub-tropical 106 regions (Kleypas et al., 1999). In recent years, molecular phylogenetics has fundamentally 107 altered our understanding of the systematics and evolution of the Scleractinia, revealing that 108 5most morphological characters traditionally used to identify families, genera and species do 109 not reflect their evolutionary history (Fukami et al., 2008(Fukami et al., , 2004 Romano and Palumbi, 1996). 110 This has led to taxonomic revisions of the Scleractinia at every taxonomic level (Kitahara et 111 al., 2016). 112 Within Scleractinia, the family Acroporidae is the most speciose family, accounting 113 for approximately one-third of all reef-building coral species (Madin et al., 2016). Despite 114 their ecological importance and use as a model system to understand coral biology and 115 symbi...

BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.