A molecular perspective on the systematics and distribution of Loxopholis lizards in South and Central America, with advances on the biogeography of the tribe Ecpleopodini (Gymnophthalmidae: Squamata)

Abstract

Knowledge about the biological diversification of vertebrates in the Amazonia has previously relied on taxa that diversified in relatively recent timeframes (i.e. Plio-Pleistocene). Dating of evolutionary events in small lizards and frogs, on the other hand, has progressively demonstrated that the major phylogenetic events in these organisms occurred earlier in time, from the Eocene to the Miocene, opening a window to reveal the Amazonia’s landscape dynamics throughout ancient periods. Here we investigate the phylogenetic relationships, diversification times, and biogeography of Loxopholis, a diverse genus of small leaf-litter ecpleopodin lizards endemic to the Amazonia. In order to place Loxopholis diversity into a larger taxonomic perspective, we used statistical biogeographic methods (BioGeoBEARS) to reconstruct the biogeography of the Ecpleopodini tribe. We found that the evolution of the Ecpleopodini occurred mostly in the Amazonia’s north region. Additionally, we found evidence that contacts between the Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest took place multiple times during the Cenozoic (earlier than previously proposed) and that these events influenced species colonization of open environments in South America via the Vanishing Refuge model. Our hypothesis on the evolution of Loxopholis, in contrast, suggests that multiple processes acted on the current species distribution, including three main dispersal events: the emergence of Lake Pebas, the rising of the Iquitos arch, the Andean orogeny and the emergence of the Panama Isthmus.

Key words:

• Amazonia
• biodiversity
• calibrated phylogeny
• diversification
• lizards
• multilocus analyzes

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the following people who provided tissue samples under their responsibilities from critical localities or species: Ana Prudente, Hussam Zaher, Fabricio Sarmento, Antoine Fouquet, Sebastian Lotzkat, Marco Altamirano, Felipe Grazziotin, Germán Chavez, Santiago J. Sánchez-Pacheco, and Fernanda Werneck. Renato Recoder, Francisco Dal-Vechio, Renata Cecília Amaro, Federico Arias, José Mário Belloti Ghellere, José Cassimiro da Silva Jr., Roberta Damasceno, Marco Aurélio Sena, Pedro Nunes, Sabrina Baroni, Ivan Prates, Ana Carolina Carnaval, Carolina Nisa, Juliana Naomi Tanaka, Alexandre Fernandes, Vinicius Carvalho, Marcelo Gordo, Deyla Oliveira, Alexandre Almeida, Tomas Hrbek, Luciana Frazão, Juliana Vieira, Daniel Quihua, Taran Grant, and Márcia M. Laguna helped in the field, laboratory or during data analyses. Financial support was provided by Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP #2012/10163-1 and #2017/08357-6 to S.M.S, #2016/03146-4 to T.O.B; 2017/14839 to KCMP, and 2008/10335-8 and 2011/50146-6). Collecting permit for Venezuelan specimens (#1758, period: 2017–2018) was granted to FJMRR, by the Ministry of Popular Power for Ecosocialism and Waters. Authors thanks also to the reviewers Tiffany M. Doan and Annelise B. D’Angiollela, and the associate editor for helpful comments to improve our manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article can be accessed here: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2119295.

Associate Editor: Dr Susan Tsang