Genetic diversity in the US ex situ populations of the endangered Puerto Rican Boa, Chilabothrus inornatus.

The Puerto Rican Boa (Chilabothrus inornatus) was placed on the US Endangered Species List in 1970. Progress has been made since to clarify the recovery status of this species, though the design of a new recovery plan must include information regarding genetic variation within and among populations of this species. While measures of genetic diversity in wild populations of this species are finally becoming available, relative genetic diversity represented in ex situ populations is unknown, which hampers efforts to develop an ex situ species management plan.

Divergent habitat use of two urban lizard species.

Faunal responses to anthropogenic habitat modification represent an important aspect of global change. In Puerto Rico, two species of arboreal lizard, and , are commonly encountered in urban areas, yet seem to use the urban habitat in different ways. In this study, we quantified differences in habitat use between these two species in an urban setting.

Ecological specialization and morphological diversification in Greater Antillean boas.

Colonization of islands can dramatically influence the evolutionary trajectories of organisms, with both deterministic and stochastic processes driving adaptation and diversification. Some island colonists evolve extremely large or small body sizes, presumably in response to unique ecological circumstances present on islands. One example of this phenomenon, the Greater Antillean boas, includes both small (<90 cm) and large (4 m) species occurring on the Greater Antilles and Bahamas, with some islands supporting pairs or trios of body-size divergent species.

Phenotypic shifts in urban areas in the tropical lizard Anolis cristatellus.

Urbanization is an increasingly important dimension of global change, and urban areas likely impose significant natural selection on the species that reside within them. Although many species of plants and animals can survive in urban areas, so far relatively little research has investigated whether such populations have adapted (in an evolutionary sense) to their newfound milieu. Even less of this work has taken place in tropical regions, many of which have experienced dramatic growth and intensification of urbanization in recent decades.

Preliminary genetic analysis supports cave populations as targets for conservation in the endemic endangered Puerto Rican boa (Boidae: Epicrates inornatus).

The endemic Puerto Rican boa (Epicrates inornatus) has spent 42 years on the Endangered Species List with little evidence for recovery. One significant impediment to effective conservation planning has been a lack of knowledge of the distribution of genetic variability in the species. It has previously been suggested that boas might best be protected around caves that harbor large populations of bats.

Molecular phylogeny and historical biogeography of West Indian boid snakes (Chilabothrus).

The evolutionary and biogeographic history of West Indian boid snakes (Epicrates), a group of nine species and 14 subspecies, was once thought to be well understood; however, new research has indicated that we are missing a clear understanding of the evolutionary relationships of this group. Here, we present the first multilocus, species-tree based analyses of the evolutionary relationships, divergence times, and historical biogeography of this clade with data from 10 genes and 6256 bp. We find evidence for a single colonization of the Caribbean from mainland South America in the Oligocene or early Miocene, followed by a radiation throughout the Greater Antilles and Bahamas.

A comparison of populations of island and adjacent mainland species of Caribbean Selenops (Araneae: Selenopidae) spiders.

The role of the landscape in structuring populations has been the focus of numerous studies, in particular, the extent to which islands provide opportunities for isolation, and the consistency of such an effect across lineages. The current study examines this phenomenon using a series of relatively widespread taxa, all within a single genus of spiders, Selenops. We focus on the Caribbean Islands and adjacent Mesoamerican mainland to examine how the islands per se dictate structure across lineages.