Publications by authors named "Wandege M Muninga"

The genus Toxicodryas, historically included with the renowned Australasian cat-eyed snakes of the colubrid genus Boiga, currently includes two widespread species (T. blandingii and T. pulverulenta) in western, central, and eastern Africa.

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Atractaspidines are poorly studied, fossorial snakes that are found throughout Africa and western Asia, including the Middle East. We employed concatenated gene-tree analyses and divergence dating approaches to investigate evolutionary relationships and biogeographic patterns of atractaspidines with a multi-locus data set consisting of three mitochondrial (16S, cyt b, and ND4) and two nuclear genes (c-mos and RAG1). We sampled 91 individuals from both atractaspidine genera (Atractaspis and Homoroselaps).

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Article Synopsis
  • Members of the Aparallactinae snake subfamily are found across various habitats in sub-Saharan Africa, with their evolutionary relationships not fully understood despite their monophyly being established.
  • By analyzing 158 individuals from six of the eight genera using multiple genetic markers, the study identifies cryptic lineages and promotes one lineage to full species status.
  • Diversification primarily occurred during the Miocene era, influenced by the Zambezian region's environment, with subsequent species fragmentation linked to climatic changes leading to further diversification events.
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