Neogene History of Anniella Gray, 1852 (Squamata, Anniellidae) with Comments on Postcranial Osteology

Bell, Christopher J.; Mead, Jim I.; Fay, Leslie P.

doi:10.2307/1446769

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The Monterey Peninsula and the southern coast around Morro Bay are both typified by cool, foggy summers. Throughout the remainder of its range, Anniella occurs inland in hot, dry areas, where it is likely limited by water availability (Bell et al 1995). Thermal melanism in Anniella might confer a selective advantage in cooler coastal populations if darker lizards can absorb heat more efficiently and thereby increase their activity levels or, perhaps, reduce digestion times (M. Fusari, pers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parallel Evolution of the Melanic Form of the California Legless Lizard, Anniella Pulchra, Inferred From Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Variation

Pearse

Pogson

2000

Evolution

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The phylogenetic relationships among populations of the fossorial California legless lizard, Anniella pulchra, were examined by sequencing a 990-bp region of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The mitochondrial DNA gene tree was then compared with the geographic distributions of two currently recognized subspecies: A. p. nigra, a melanic form restricted to two disjunct coastal populations, and A. p. pulchra, a more widely distributed, silvery form. We tested the null hypothesis that all A. p. nigra form a clade that is monophyletic with respect to A. p. pulchra. Our results strongly reject the monophyletic origin of the melanic forms and suggest that the two populations of the nominal subspecies A. p. nigra may have arisen independently from different ancestral populations in a parallel evolutionary response to selection in cool, coastal habitats.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parallel Evolution of the Melanic Form of the California Legless Lizard, Anniella Pulchra, Inferred From Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Variation

Pearse

Pogson

2000

Evolution

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“…The possibility of a long-missing lineage between Anguis and Anniella (see below) raises the issue of potential long-branch attraction in the molecular data set, in the morphological data set, or in both. Unfortunately, there is little in the way of fossil record for either Anniella or Anguis prior to the Middle Miocene (see Mead, 1995, andWhistler, 1996, for Miocene and Pleistocene records of anniellines), so transitional morphologies are lacking.…”

Section: Extants-only Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

The braincases of two glyptosaurines (anguidae, Squamata) and anguid phylogeny

Conrad¹,

Norell²

2008

Am Museum Novitates

452

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“…causal questions in [2] ). There are, however, limb components within the bodies of anniellids: the pectoral girdle is present as a pair of cartilaginous rods in the musculature of the shoulder region, and the pelvic girdle is represented by rod‐like ilia (Bell et al . 1995).…”

Section: Can Character ‘Loss’ Be Recognized Relative To ‘Absence’? Camentioning

confidence: 99%

Clarifying the role of character loss in phylogenetic inference

Fitzhugh¹

2008

Zoologica Scripta

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Character loss, as opposed to absence, in the Annelida is regarded by Bleidorn (2007, Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 45, 299–307) as a problem for phylogenetic inference. Bleidorn's concern is derived from two misconceptions. First, from an epistemic standpoint, objects are perceived by way of their properties. ‘Absence’ refers to properties not observed of an object, rather than what is perceived, allowing an infinite possibility of positive instances. ‘Loss’ is an explanatory, not descriptive concept, directed at what is observed of objects. Neither absence nor loss is applicable to describing properties in need of explanation by phylogenetic hypotheses. The second problem is that partitioning data as ‘morphological’ and ‘molecular’ is not justified for discerning loss from absence. Naive partitioning is unwarranted since it violates the requirement of total evidence (RTE). The RTE precludes partitioning unless data are irrelevant to one another. Given that ‘morphological’ and ‘molecular’ data are used to infer ‘phylogenetic’ hypotheses, the relevance issue cannot be avoided, thereby denying partitioning. Ultimately, ‘character loss’ is not a problem once it is acknowledged that neither absence nor loss are properties of organisms that systematists perceive or explain by way of phylogenetic hypotheses.

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Neogene History of Anniella Gray, 1852 (Squamata, Anniellidae) with Comments on Postcranial Osteology

Cited by 15 publications

References 15 publications

Parallel Evolution of the Melanic Form of the California Legless Lizard, Anniella Pulchra, Inferred From Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Variation

Parallel Evolution of the Melanic Form of the California Legless Lizard, Anniella Pulchra, Inferred From Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Variation

The braincases of two glyptosaurines (anguidae, Squamata) and anguid phylogeny

Clarifying the role of character loss in phylogenetic inference

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