Large-scale molecular phylogeny, morphology, divergence-time estimation, and the fossil record of advanced caenophidian snakes (Squamata: Serpentes)

Author(s):Show less -

Zaher, Hussam ^{[1, 2]} ; Murphy, Robert W. ^{[3, 4]} ; Arredondo, Juan Camilo ^[1] ; Graboski, Roberta ^{[5, 1]} ; Machado-Filho, Paulo Roberto ^[1] ; Mahlow, Kristin ^[6] ; Montingellil, Giovanna G. ^[1] ; Quadros, Ana Bottallo ^{[1, 2]} ; Orlov, Nikolai L. ^[7] ; Wilkinson, Mark ^[8] ; Zhang, Ya-Ping ^{[4, 9]} ; Grazziotin, Felipe G. ^[10]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Sorbonne Univ, Museum Natl Hist Nat, Ctr Rech Paleontol CR2P, Paris - France

^[3] Royal Ontario Museum, Ctr Biodivers, Toronto, ON - Canada

^[4] Kunming Inst Zool, State Key Lab Genet Resources & Evolut, Kunming, Yunnan - Peoples R China

^[5] Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Lab Herpetol, Belem, Para - Brazil

^[6] Leibniz Inst Evolut & Biodivers Sci, Museum Nat Kunde, Berlin - Germany

^[7] Russian Acad Sci, Zool Inst, St Petersburg - Russia

^[8] Nat Hist Museum, Dept Life Sci, London - England

^[9] Yunnan Univ, Lab Conservat & Utilizat Bioresources, Kunming, Yunnan - Peoples R China

^[10] Inst Butantan, Lab Colecoes Zool, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PLoS One; v. 14, n. 5 MAY 10 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 5

Abstract

Caenophidian snakes include the file snake genus Acrochordus and advanced colubroidean snakes that radiated mainly during the Neogene. Although caenophidian snakes are a well-supported clade, their inferred affinities, based either on molecular or morphological data, remain poorly known or controversial. Here, we provide an expanded molecular phylogenetic analysis of Caenophidia and use three non-parametric measures of support-Shimodaira-Hasegawa-Like test (SHL), Felsentein (FBP) and transfer (TBE) bootstrap measures-to evaluate the robustness of each clade in the molecular tree. That very different alternative support values are common suggests that results based on only one support value should be viewed with caution. Using a scheme to combine support values, we find 20.9% of the 1265 clades comprising the inferred caenophidian tree are unambiguously supported by both SHL and FBP values, while almost 37% are unsupported or ambiguously supported, revealing the substantial extent of phylogenetic problems within Caenophidia. Combined FBP/TBE support values show similar results, while SHL/TBE result in slightly higher combined values. We consider key morphological attributes of colubroidean cranial, vertebral and hemipenial anatomy and provide additional morphological evidence supporting the clades Colubroides, Colubriformes, and Endoglyptodonta. We review and revise the relevant caenophidian fossil record and provide a time-calibrated tree derived from our molecular data to discuss the main cladogenetic events that resulted in present-day patterns of caenophidian diversification. Our results suggest that all extant families of Colubroidea and Elapoidea composing the present-day endoglyptodont fauna originated rapidly within the early Oligocene-between approximately 33 and 28 Mya-following the major terrestrial faunal turnover known as the ``Grande Coupure{''} and associated with the overall climate shift at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. Our results further suggest that the caenophidian radiation originated within the Caenozoic, with the divergence between Colubroides and Acrochordidae occurring in the early Eocene, at similar to 56 Mya. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 02/13602-4 - Evolution of the southeastern Brazilian reptile fauna from Cretaceous: paleontology, phylogeny and biogeography
• Grantee: Hussam El Dine Zaher
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 07/52144-5 - Analysis of the longitudinal variation of the axial skeleton in serpents (Squamata) using tools of geometric mophometry
• Grantee: Fábio de Andrade Machado
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 11/50206-9 - Origin and evolution of snakes and their diversification in the Neotropics: a multidisciplinary approach
• Grantee: Hussam El Dine Zaher
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 16/50127-5 - Dimensions US-BIOTA São Paulo: scales of biodiversity: integrated studies of snake venom evolution and function across multiple levels of diversity
• Grantee: Inácio de Loiola Meirelles Junqueira de Azevedo
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 12/24755-8 - Phylogenetic analysis and evolution of head forms of Amphisbaenia (Reptilia, Squamata)
• Grantee: Roberta Graboski Mendes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate