Molecular differentiation and morphological variation in microteiid lizards of the tribe Iphisiini (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae)

• Grant number: 12/09463-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Applied Zoology
• Principal Investigator: Miguel Trefaut Urbano Rodrigues
• Grantee: Renato Sousa Recoder
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 11/50146-6 - Comparative phylogeography, phylogeny, paleoclimate modeling, and taxonomy of neotropical reptiles and amphibians, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Phylogeography is a study field that has achieved great prestige, and which tools have been applied to deal with many questions in biogeography, systematics, ecology and evolution. An interest group for phylogeographic studies is the tribe Iphisiini, a lineage of microteiid lizards composed of six species distributed throughout the main morphoclimatic domains of Brazil. The species of the tribe are highly conservated in external morphology, in contrast to the tribe Gymnophthalmini, a lineage of related species which have notable cases of morphological adaptation to fossorial habits. However, it was demonstrated that there are cryptic diversity in Iphisa elegans, an Amazonian species of Iphisiini with wide distribution. It sister species, Colobosaura modesta, occurs widely in the Cerrado, associated to forest formations that are irregularly distributed in the landscape. It is supposed that this species may also represent a case of cryptic diversity. Another interesting issue relatated to Iphisiini is the occurrence of two species with relictual distribution in humid forest formations of northeastern Brazil, considered as "Pleistocene refugia". Similarly, species of the genus Acratosaura occur "constrained" in mild environments or of altitude, presumably in response to historical changes in climatic conditions for the occurrence of the species. Thus, the species of the tribe Iphisiini represent interesting models to explore questions related to time of diversification, its relation to morphological and molecular diversity, and the roles of isolation caused by past climatic events for the patterns of diversification.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RECODER, RENATO SOUSA; DAL VECHIO, FRANCISCO; MARQUES-SOUZA, SERGIO; TEIXEIRA, JR., MAURO; SILVA-DA-SILVA, MAIUME; SANTOS, JR., ALFREDO P.; RIBEIRO, SIRIA; BARRIO-AMOROS, CESAR; RODRIGUES, MIGUEL TREFAUT. Geographic variation and taxonomy of red-tailed Gymnophthalmus (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from Amazonian Savannas. Zootaxa, v. 4497, n. 1, p. 61-81, OCT 8 2018. (13/50297-0, 03/10335-8, 12/09463-0, 17/08357-6)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

RECODER, Renato Sousa. Molecular differentiation and morphological variation in lizards of the tribe Iphisini (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae). 2017. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) São Paulo.