Phylogenetic Placement of the Pygmy Alligator Lizard Based on Mitochondrial DNA

Phylogenetic Placement of the Pygmy Alligator Lizard Based on Mitochondrial DNA

Morphological studies have proven inconsistent in establishing the phylogenetic placement and taxonomic assignment of Elgaria parva. Originally classified as Gerrhonotus parvus Knight and Scudday, this taxon was reassigned to Elgaria based on morphology. To investigate its phylogenetic affinities, w...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of herpetology Vol. 39; no. 1; pp. 142 - 147
Main Authors: Conroy, C J, Bryson, R W, Lazcano, D, Knight, A
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 01-03-2005
Subjects:
Alligator
Elgaria
Freshwater
Gerrhonotus
Gerrhonotus parvus
Lacertilia
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Morphological studies have proven inconsistent in establishing the phylogenetic placement and taxonomic assignment of Elgaria parva. Originally classified as Gerrhonotus parvus Knight and Scudday, this taxon was reassigned to Elgaria based on morphology. To investigate its phylogenetic affinities, we generated mitochondrial DNA sequence data and conducted phylogenetic analyses together with published sequences for a broad taxonomic sampling of anguid lizards. We conducted parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian analyses of the data. Our results indicate that E. parva forms a clade with other Gerrhonotus rather than Elgaria. Furthermore, Elgaria and Gerrhonotus are not sister taxa. Based on our new molecular evidence, we suggest that E. parva be classified as Gerrhonotus parvus as originally described.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
content type line 23
ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:0022-1511
DOI:10.1043/0022-1511(2005)039<0142:PPOTPA>2.0.CO;2