How lizards survived blizzards: phylogeography of theLiolaemus lineomaculatusgroup (Liolaemidae) reveals multiple breaks and refugia in southernPatagonia and their concordance with other codistributed taxa

Abstract

Patagonia was shaped by a complex geological history, including the Miocene uplift of the Andes, followed by volcanism, marine introgressions, and extreme climatic oscillations during Pliocene-Pleistocene glaciation-deglaciation cycles. The distributional patterns and phylogenetic relationships of southern patagonian animals and plants were affected in different ways, and those imprints are reflected in the seven phylogeographic breaks and eight refugia that have been previously proposed. In this study, we estimated time-calibrated phylogenetic/phylogeographic patterns in lizards of the Liolaemus lineomaculatus group and relate them to historical Miocene-to-Pleistocene events of Patagonia and the previously proposed phylogeographic patterns. Individuals from 51 localities were sequenced for the mitochondrial marker (cyt-b) and a subsample of individuals from each mitochondrial lineage was sequenced for one nuclear (LDA12D) and one slow evolving mitochondrial gene (12S). Our analyses revealed strong phylogeographic structure among lineages and, in most cases, no signal of demographic changes through time. The lineomaculatus group is composed of three strongly supported clades (lineomaculatus, hatcheri and kolengh + silvanae), and divergence estimates suggested their origins associated with the oldest known Patagonian glaciation (7-5 Ma); subsequent diversification within the lineomaculatus clade coincided with the large Pliocene glaciations (~3.5 Ma). The lineomaculatus clade includes nine strongly genetically and geographically structured lineages, five of which are interpreted as candidate species. Our findings suggest that some Liolaemus lineages have persisted in situ, each of them in a different refugium, through several glaciation-deglaciation cycles without demographic fluctuations. We also summarize and update qualitative evidence of some shared phylogeographic breaks and refugia among plants, rodents and lizards.

Two new Liolaemus lizards from the Andean highlands of Southern Chile (Squamata, Iguania, Liolaemidae)

“…The addition of other species of the elongatus clade to the phylogeny might resolve these issues (see Discussion). Average uncorrected pairwise distance between the first new species and the clade Liolaemus elongatus + Liolaemus lonquimayensis + Liolaemus shitan is 3.4%, consistent with a 3% divergence previously proposed for identification of candidate species in Liolaemus (Breitman et al 2012). …”

“…Average uncorrected pairwise distance between the species is 7.3%, more than double that value proposed for identification of candidate species (Breitman et al 2012). …”

Two new species of the Liolaemus elongatus-kriegi complex (Iguania, Liolaemidae) from Andean highlands of southern Chile

“…In the case of Liolaemus zabalai of the kriegi clade, the uncorrected pairwise differences between it and other species of the kriegi clade are 2.94–3.79%, almost at the limit of the value (3%) proposed for identify candidate species in Liolaemus (Breitman et al 2012). In comparison, other Liolaemus lizards widely accepted as valid species show a lower level of differentiation for the mitochondrial gene cyt-b, for example: Liolaemus martorii Abdala, 2003 vs. Liolaemus morenoi Etheridge & Christie, 2003, 2.73% (Avila et al 2010b); Liolaemus riojanus Cei, 1979 vs. Liolaemus multimaculatus (Duméril & Bibron, 1837), 1.23% (Avila et al 2009); Liolaemus chacabucoense Núñez & Scolaro, 2009 vs. Liolaemus kingii (Bell, 1843), 2.22% (Breitman 2013).…”

Reptiles of Chubut province, Argentina: richness, diversity, conservation status and geographic distribution maps

“…comm.). This was well analyzed, mapped and verified in Breitman et al (2011a, 2011b, 2011c, 2012, 2013). The locality in which Daciuk and Miranda (1980) cited a specimen identified as Liolaemus melanops was subsequently recognized to harbor populations of Liolaemus canqueli (Cei and Scolaro 1980, 1983).…”