A nesting of vipers: Phylogeny and historical biogeography of the Viperidae (Squamata: Serpentes)

Wüster, Wolfgang; Peppin, Lindsay; Pook, Catharine E.; Walker, DM

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.08.019

Cited by 207 publications

(194 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Branch support indices are not given for some subclades to preserve clarity. (Burbrink and Lawson, 2007;Wüster et al, 2008;Brandley et al, 2011). Here, we demonstrate a fourth example of a diverse and widespread Holarctic group with a similar biogeographic history.…”

Section: Xenochrophis Vittatusmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Specifically, several squamate groups, including skinks (Plestiodon), ratsnakes (NW Lampropeltini and OW Elaphe), and pitvipers (Crotalinae), which are distributed throughout the Holarctic with adjacent tropical ranges, have shown similar patterns of dispersal and diversification (Burbrink and Lawson, 2007;Wüster et al, 2008;Pyron and Burbrink, 2009b;Brandley et al, 2011). From these studies, there are two common patterns that may be influenced by similar processes: (1) all apparently originated in tropical or subtropical Asia from the late Eocene through the late Oligocene, and (2) all display a single unidirectional dispersal through Beringia into the New World (NW) during the late Oligocene or early Miocene, through the mixed mesophytic forests that dominated that area at the time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Out of Asia: Natricine snakes support the Cenozoic Beringian Dispersal Hypothesis

Guo

Liu

et al. 2012

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

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Section: Xenochrophis Vittatusmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of Asia: Natricine snakes support the Cenozoic Beringian Dispersal Hypothesis

Guo

Liu

et al. 2012

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

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“…Because relevant genome information was lacking, we reconciled the resulting gene trees to the previously described species tree (20,29,30) to reconstruct the timing of gene duplication events and to predict the number of untranscribed (or pseudogenic) gene loci. Such reconciliation approaches have successfully been used elsewhere, including with venom toxins, to predict the number of genes housed in a genome in the absence of genomic information (31)(32)(33).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medically important differences in snake venom composition are dictated by distinct postgenomic mechanisms

Casewell

Wagstaff

Wüster

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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256

232

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Variation in venom composition is a ubiquitous phenomenon in snakes and occurs both interspecifically and intraspecifically. Venom variation can have severe outcomes for snakebite victims by rendering the specific antibodies found in antivenoms ineffective against heterologous toxins found in different venoms. The rapid evolutionary expansion of different toxin-encoding gene families in different snake lineages is widely perceived as the main cause of venom variation. However, this view is simplistic and disregards the understudied influence that processes acting on gene transcription and translation may have on the production of the venom proteome. Here, we assess the venom composition of six related viperid snakes and compare interspecific changes in the number of toxin genes, their transcription in the venom gland, and their translation into proteins secreted in venom. Our results reveal that multiple levels of regulation are responsible for generating variation in venom composition between related snake species. We demonstrate that differential levels of toxin transcription, translation, and their posttranslational modification have a substantial impact upon the resulting venom protein mixture. Notably, these processes act to varying extents on different toxin paralogs found in different snakes and are therefore likely to be as important as ancestral gene duplication events for generating compositionally distinct venom proteomes. Our results suggest that these processes may also contribute to altering the toxicity of snake venoms, and we demonstrate how this variability can undermine the treatment of a neglected tropical disease, snakebite.

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“…reptile groups, including colubrid [50] and viperid [51] snakes, skinks [9,52] and anguids [9,53] However, recent studies have demonstrated the biogeographic importance of this phenomenon for many groups, including taxa not generally thought to be good candidates for survival in an oceanic environment (reviewed in de Queiroz [54]). For example, the Fijian iguanas (Brachylophus) almost certainly originated via trans-Pacific rafting from the New World, where all their closest relatives (both extant and fossil) are found [25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intercontinental dispersal by a microendemic burrowing reptile (Dibamidae)

2011

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Intercontinental dispersal via land bridge connections has been important in the biogeographic history of many Holarctic plant and animal groups. Likewise, some groups appear to have accomplished trans-oceanic dispersal via rafting. Dibamid lizards are a clade of poorly known fossorial, essentially limbless species traditionally split into two geographically disjunct genera: Dibamus comprises approximately 20 Southeast Asian species, many of which have very limited geographical distributions, and the monotypic genus Anelytropsis occupies a small area of northeastern Mexico. Although no formal phylogeny of the group exists, a sister -taxon relationship between the two genera has been assumed based on biogeographic considerations. We used DNA sequence data from one mitochondrial and six nuclear protein-coding genes to construct a phylogeny of Dibamidae and to estimate divergence times within the group. Surprisingly, sampled Dibamus species form two deeply divergent, morphologically conserved and geographically concordant clades, one of which is the sister taxon of Anelytropsis papillosus. Our analyses indicate Palaearctic to Nearctic Beringian dispersal in the Late Palaeocene to Eocene. Alternatively, a trans-Pacific rafting scenario would extend the upper limit on dispersal to the Late Cretaceous. Either scenario constitutes a remarkable long-distance dispersal in what would seem an unlikely candidate.

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A nesting of vipers: Phylogeny and historical biogeography of the Viperidae (Squamata: Serpentes)

Cited by 207 publications

References 72 publications

Out of Asia: Natricine snakes support the Cenozoic Beringian Dispersal Hypothesis

Out of Asia: Natricine snakes support the Cenozoic Beringian Dispersal Hypothesis

Medically important differences in snake venom composition are dictated by distinct postgenomic mechanisms

Intercontinental dispersal by a microendemic burrowing reptile (Dibamidae)

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