A phylogenetic review of the African leaf chameleons: Genus Rhampholeon (Chamaeleonidae): The role of vicariance and climate change in speciation
Date
2004
Authors
Matthee C.A.
Tilbury C.R.
Townsend T.
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Abstract
The phylogenetic associations among 13 currently recognized African leaf chameleon species were investigated by making use of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data (44 taxa and 4145 characters). The gene tree indicates two divergent clades within Rhampholeon; this finding is congruent with previous morphological suggestions. The first clade (I) comprises three taxa (R. kerstenii, R. brevicaudatus and R. brachyurus) and is widely distributed in lowland forest and or non-forest biomes. The second clade (II) comprises the remaining Rhampholeon species and can be subdivided into three subclades. By contrast, most taxa belonging to clade II are confined to relict montane forest biotopes. Based on geographical, morphological and molecular evidence, it is suggested that the taxonomy of Rhampholeon be revised to include two genera (Rieppeleon and Rhampholeon) and three subgenera (Rhampholeon, Bicuspis and Rhinodigitum). There is a close correlation between geographical distribution and phylogenetic relatedness among Rhampholeon taxa, indicating that vicariance and climate change were possibly the most influential factors driving speciation in the group. A relaxed Bayesian clock suggests that speciation times coincided both with the northern movement of Africa, which caused the constriction of the pan African forest, and to rifting in east Africa ca. 20 Myr ago. Subsequent speciation among taxa was probably the result of gradual desiccation of forests between 20 and 5 Myr ago. © 2004 The Royal Society.
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Keywords
cladistics, lizard, montane forest, phylogenetics, taxonomy, animal, Bicuspis, biotope, Chamaeleonidae, chameleon, cladistics, climate change, DNA sequence, forest, geographic distribution, nonhuman, phylogeny, priority journal, review, Rhampholeon, Rhinodigitum, Rieppeleon, species differentiation, taxonomy, vicariance, Africa, article, Bayes theorem, biological model, classification, climate, comparative study, gene, genetics, geography, lizard, molecular evolution, molecular genetics, nucleotide sequence, species difference, Cacajao, Chamaeleonidae, Rhampholeon, Rhampholeon brevicaudatus, Rhampholeon kerstenii, mitochondrial DNA, Africa, Animals, Base Sequence, Bayes Theorem, Climate, DNA, Mitochondrial, Evolution, Molecular, Genes, RAG-1, Geography, Lizards, Models, Genetic, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Species Specificity
Citation
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
271
1551
271
1551