Generalizing Bayesian phylogenetics to infer shared evolutionary events.

Many processes of biological diversification can simultaneously affect multiple evolutionary lineages. Examples include multiple members of a gene family diverging when a region of a chromosome is duplicated, multiple viral strains diverging at a "super-spreading" event, and a geological event fragmenting whole communities of species. It is difficult to test for patterns of shared divergences predicted by such processes because all phylogenetic methods assume that lineages diverge independently.

Genomic data reveal local endemism in Southern California Rubber Boas (Serpentes: Boidae, Charina) and the critical need for enhanced conservation actions.

The mountains of southern California represent unique, isolated ecosystems that support distinct high-elevation habitats found nowhere else in the area. Analyses of several moisture-dependent species across these sky-islands indicate they exist as locally endemic lineages that occur across these fragmented mountains ranges. The Rubber Boa is a semi-fossorial snake species that is widely distributed in the cooler and more moist ecoregions regions of western North America, including isolated populations across southern California mountain ranges.

Reduced Mitochondrial Respiration in Hybrid Asexual Lizards.

AbstractThe scarcity of asexual reproduction in vertebrates alludes to an inherent cost. Several groups of asexual vertebrates exhibit lower endurance capacity (a trait predominantly sourced by mitochondrial respiration) compared with congeneric sexual species. Here we measure endurance capacity in five species of lizards and examine mitochondrial respiration between sexual and asexual species using mitochondrial respirometry.

Differences in Quaternary co-divergence reveals community-wide diversification in the mountains of southwest China varied among species.

The mountains of southwest China (MSWC) is a biodiversity hotspot with highly complex and unusual terrain. However, with the majority of studies focusing on the biogeographic consequences of massive mountain building, the Quaternary legacy of biodiversity for the MSWC has long been overlooked. Here, we took a statistical comparative phylogeography approach to examine factors that shaped community-wide diversification.

A new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray (Squamata; Gekkonidae) from the Thai Highlands with a discussion on the evolution of habitat preference.

A new gekkonid lizard, Cyrtodactylus maelanoi sp. nov., from Mae Hong Son Province of the Thai Highlands is described using an integrative taxonomic analysis based on morphology, color pattern, and the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) and its flanking tRNAs.

A new insular species of the Cyrtodactylus intermedius (Squamata: Gekkonidae) group from Cambodia with a discussion of habitat preference and ecomorphology.

An integrative taxonomic analysis based on mitochondrial and morphological data recovered the population of Cyrtodactylus on Koh Rong Island, Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodiaa as an endemic insular species belonging to the Cyrtodactylus intermedius group. This brings the number of species in the C. intermedius group to at least 10 and the number of species in Cambodia to at least seven.

Impacts of the Toba eruption and montane forest expansion on diversification in Sumatran parachuting frogs (Rhacophorus).

Catastrophic events, such as volcanic eruptions, can have profound impacts on the demographic histories of resident taxa. Due to its presumed effect on biodiversity, the Pleistocene eruption of super-volcano Toba has received abundant attention. We test the effects of the Toba eruption on the diversification, genetic diversity, and demography of three co-distributed species of parachuting frogs (Genus Rhacophorus) on Sumatra.

Insights from a general, full-likelihood Bayesian approach to inferring shared evolutionary events from genomic data: Inferring shared demographic events is challenging.

Factors that influence the distribution, abundance, and diversification of species can simultaneously affect multiple evolutionary lineages within or across communities. These include changes to the environment or inter-specific ecological interactions that cause ranges of multiple species to contract, expand, or fragment. Such processes predict temporally clustered evolutionary events across species, such as synchronous population divergences and/or changes in population size.

Rivers of Indochina as potential drivers of lineage diversification in the spotted flying lizard (Draco maculatus) species complex.

Southeast Asia hosts a rich concentration of biodiversity within multiple biodiversity hotspots. Indochina, a region with remarkably high levels of in situ diversification, possesses five major rivers (Ayeyarwady, Chiang Mai, Mekong, Red, and Salween), several of which coincide with phylogenetic breaks of terrestrial taxa. Draco maculatus possesses a range that stretches across Indochina, which widespread geographic distribution along with potential discrete variation within subspecies alludes to the possibility of this taxon constituting multiple divergent lineages.

Patterns of gene evolution following duplications and speciations in vertebrates.

Background: Eukaryotic genes typically form independent evolutionary lineages through either speciation or gene duplication events. Generally, gene copies resulting from speciation events (orthologs) are expected to maintain similarity over time with regard to sequence, structure and function. After a duplication event, however, resulting gene copies (paralogs) may experience a broader set of possible fates, including partial (subfunctionalization) or complete loss of function, as well as gain of new function (neofunctionalization).

A new potentially endangered limestone-associated Bent-toed Gecko of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) complex from northern Peninsular Malaysia.

A survey of a limestone forest at Gunung Baling, Kedah, West Malaysia lead to the discovery of an undescribed species of Bent-toed Gecko from the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex. Cyrtodactylus evanquahi sp. nov.

Four new Burmese species of Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from distantly related parapatric clades from the Shan Plateau and Salween Basin.

An integrative taxonomic analysis based on morphology, color pattern, and the mitochondrial gene ND2 recovered four new species of Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker that are endemic to the Shan Plateau or Salween Basin in eastern Myanmar. Hemiphyllodactylus ngwelwini sp. nov.

Two new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from a karstic archipelago in the Salween Basin of southern Myanmar (Burma).

An integrative taxonomic analysis of the 10 species of the Cyrtodactylus sinyineensis group based on squamation, color pattern, and the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) and its flanking tRNA regions, recovered the newly discovered populations from Datt Kyaik and Taung Wine Hills in Kayin State as the new species Cyrtodactylus dattkyaikensis sp. nov. and C.

The why, when, and how of computing in biology classrooms.

Many biologists are interested in teaching computing skills or using computing in the classroom, despite not being formally trained in these skills themselves. Thus biologists may find themselves researching how to teach these skills, and therefore many individuals are individually attempting to discover resources and methods to do so. Recent years have seen an expansion of new technologies to assist in delivering course content interactively.

Discovery of the westernmost population of the genus Ansonia Stoliczka (Anura, Bufonidae) with the description of a new species from the Shan Plateau of eastern Myanmar.

A new species of Ansonia is described from the Shan Plateau of Myanmar based on an integrative taxonomic analysis that differentiates it from all other congeners. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial genes 12S and 16S rRNA and tRNA-val recover A. kyaiktiyoensis sp.

A new species of Bent-toed Gecko (Squamata, Gekkonidae, Cyrtodactylus) from the Shan Plateau in eastern Myanmar (Burma).

An integrative taxonomic analysis of the Cyrtodactylus linnwayensis group of the Shan Plateau recovered two new populations from isolated karst habitats near Pinlaung Town, Shan State as a new species, C. pinlaungensis sp. nov.

The Coevolution Effect as a Driver of Spillover.

Global habitat fragmentation is associated with the emergence of infectious diseases of wildlife origins in human populations. Despite this well-accepted narrative, the underlying mechanisms driving this association remain unclear. We introduce a nuanced hypothesis, the 'coevolution effect'.

The comparative biogeography of Philippine geckos challenges predictions from a paradigm of climate-driven vicariant diversification across an island archipelago.

A primary goal of biogeography is to understand how large-scale environmental processes, like climate change, affect diversification. One often-invoked but seldom tested process is the "species-pump" model, in which repeated bouts of cospeciation are driven by oscillating climate-induced habitat connectivity cycles. For example, over the past three million years, the landscape of the Philippine Islands has repeatedly coalesced and fragmented due to sea-level changes associated with glacial cycles.

The NMR-based characterization of the FTY720-SET complex reveals an alternative mechanism for the attenuation of the inhibitory SET-PP2A interaction.

The su(var)3-9, enhancer of zeste, trithorax (SET)/inhibitor 2 of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) oncoprotein binds and inhibits PP2A, composed of various isoforms of scaffolding, regulatory, and catalytic subunits. Targeting SET with a sphingolipid analog drug fingolimod (FTY720) or ceramide leads to the reactivation of tumor suppressor PP2A. However, molecular details of the SET-FTY720 or SET-ceramide, and mechanism of FTY720-dependent PP2A activation, remain unknown.

Taxonomic and conservation implications of population genetic admixture, mito-nuclear discordance, and male-biased dispersal of a large endangered snake, Drymarchon couperi.

Accurate species delimitation and description are necessary to guide effective conservation of imperiled species, and this synergy is maximized when multiple data sources are used to delimit species. We illustrate this point by examining Drymarchon couperi (Eastern Indigo Snake), a large, federally-protected species in North America that was recently divided into two species based on gene sequence data from three loci and heuristic morphological assessment. Here, we re-evaluate the two-species hypothesis for D.

A Rare Desmoglein-2 Gene Mutation in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy Inciting Incessant Ventricular Fibrillation.

A case of a 51-year-old female with history of hypertension and a significant family history of premature coronary artery disease presented to the hospital after cardiac arrest. She successfully completed a targeted temperature management therapy with full neurologic recovery. Her hospital course was complicated by several bouts of ventricular fibrillation (VF) arrest which was rescued by timely defibrillation, high quality cardiorespiratory resuscitation, and administration of antiarrhythmic medications and inotropic agents.

Full Bayesian Comparative Phylogeography from Genomic Data.

A challenge to understanding biological diversification is accounting for community-scale processes that cause multiple, co-distributed lineages to co-speciate. Such processes predict non-independent, temporally clustered divergences across taxa. Approximate-likelihood Bayesian computation (ABC) approaches to inferring such patterns from comparative genetic data are very sensitive to prior assumptions and often biased toward estimating shared divergences.