Diversification of the African legless skinks in the subfamily Acontinae (Family Scincidae).

Cladogenic diversification is often explained by referring to climatic oscillations and geomorphic shifts that cause allopatric speciation. In this regard, southern Africa retains a high level of landscape heterogeneity in vegetation, geology, and rainfall patterns. The legless skink subfamily Acontinae occurs broadly across the southern African subcontinent and therefore provides an ideal model group for investigating biogeographic patterns associated with the region.

Climatic and topographic changes since the Miocene influenced the diversification and biogeography of the tent tortoise (Psammobates tentorius) species complex in Southern Africa.

Background: Climatic and topographic changes function as key drivers in shaping genetic structure and cladogenic radiation in many organisms. Southern Africa has an exceptionally diverse tortoise fauna, harbouring one-third of the world's tortoise genera. The distribution of Psammobates tentorius (Kuhl, 1820) covers two of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world, the Succulent Karoo and Cape Floristic Region.

Unmasking evolutionary diversity among two closely related South African legless skink species (Acontinae: Acontias) using molecular data.

We examined species boundaries among two phylogenetically closely related and morphologically similar South African fossorial legless skink species, Acontias breviceps and Acontias gracilicauda. Samples of these two species were collected throughout their distribution ranges and sequenced for three DNA loci (two mitochondrial loci, 16S rRNA and cytochrome b (Cyt b), plus the nuclear locus prolactin). Phylogenetic relationships were determined using maximum parsimony, Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses of the combined DNA sequence data set.