Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in aquatic caecilians (Typhlonectes natans): a series of cases from two institutions.

Infection with the fungal organism Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was documented in two captive populations of aquatic caecilians (Typhlonectes natans), including 24 confiscated animals at the Bronx Zoo's Wildlife Health Center and two captive-born animals at the Phoenix Zoo. The animals at the Bronx Zoo were asymptomatic, and infection was discovered during quarantine polymerase chain reaction screening. Both animals at the Phoenix Zoo were clinically ill, and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection was confirmed in both animals, but it is unclear what role, if any, the infection played in the animals' clinical signs.

Phylogenetic relationships within the lizard clade Xantusiidae: using trees and divergence times to address evolutionary questions at multiple levels.

Xantusiidae (night lizards) is a clade of small-bodied, cryptic lizards endemic to the New World. The clade is characterized by several features that would benefit from interpretation in a phylogenetic context, including: (1) monophyletic status of extant taxa Cricosaura, Lepidophyma, and Xantusia; (2) a species endemic to Cuba (Cricosaura typica) of disputed age; (3) origins of the parthenogenetic species of Lepidophyma; (4) pronounced micro-habitat differences accompanied by distinct morphologies in both Xantusia and Lepidophyma; and (5) placement of Xantusia riversiana, the only vertebrate species endemic to the California Channel Islands, which is highly divergent from its mainland relatives. This study incorporates extensive new character data from multiple gene regions to investigate the phylogeny of Xantusiidae using the most comprehensive taxonomic sampling available to date.

DNA evidence for nonhybrid origins of parthenogenesis in natural populations of vertebrates.

Naturally occurring unisexual reproduction has been documented in less than 0.1% of all vertebrate species. Among vertebrates, true parthenogenesis is known only in squamate reptiles.

Phylogeny of finescale shiners of the genus Lythrurus (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) inferred from four mitochondrial genes.

We infer the phylogenetic relationships of finescale shiners of the genus Lythrurus, a group of 11 species of freshwater minnows widely distributed in eastern North America, using DNA sequences from the ND2 (1047 bp), ATPase8 and 6 (823 bp), and ND3 (421 bp) mitochondrial protein-coding genes. The topologies resulting from maximum parsimony, Bayesian, and maximum likelihood tree building methods are broadly congruent, with two distinct clades within the genus: the L. umbratilis clade (L.