Title
Integrative taxonomy and preliminary assessment of species limits in the Liolaemus walkeri complex (Squamata, Liolaemidae) with descriptions of three new species from Peru
Date Issued
24 December 2013
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Abstract
Species delimitation studies based on integrative taxonomic approaches have received considerable attention in the last few years, and have provided the strongest hypotheses of species boundaries. We used three lines of evidence (molecular, morphological, and niche envelopes) to test for species boundaries in Peruvian populations of the Liolaemus walkeri complex. Our results show that different lines of evidence and analyses are congruent in different combinations, for unambiguous delimitation of three lineages that were "hidden" within known species, and now deserve species status. Our phylogenetic analysis shows that L. walkeri, L. tacnae and the three new species are strongly separated from other species assigned to the alticolor-bibronii group. Few conventional morphological characters distinguish the new species from closely related taxa and this highlights the need to integrate other sources of data to erect strong hypothesis of species limits. A taxonomic key for known Peruvian species of the subgenus Lioalemus is provided. © César Aguilar et al.
Start page
47
End page
91
Volume
364
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencia veterinaria
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84890776515
Source
ZooKeys
ISSN of the container
13132989
Sponsor(s)
National Science Foundation
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus