CONSERVATION BIOLOGY OF A SOUTHWESTERN ENDEMIC, THE TEXAS GARTER SNAKE, THAMNOPHIS SIRTALIS ANNECTENS: AN INTEGRATIVE PERSPECTIVE
| Autor: | Andrew G. Gluesenkamp, Kayla N. Key, Joshua A. Banta, John S. Placyk, Kate L. Hertweck |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine biology Phylogenetic tree Zoology Subspecies biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Environmental niche modelling 03 medical and health sciences 030104 developmental biology Taxon Thamnophis sirtalis Conservation biology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics |
| Zdroj: | The Southwestern Naturalist. 64:8 |
| ISSN: | 0038-4909 |
| Popis: | We investigate the taxonomic status of the Texas garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis annectens, a species of greatest conservation need in Texas. We broadly test the hypothesis that an integrative approach to species conservation has greater utility than using only a single data type (e.g., molecular, morphological, behavioral, or ecological) by demonstrating how ecological niche modeling and molecular genetics can be used synergistically to resolve taxonomic classifications. Using a phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data, we found that some putative T. s. annectens specimens actually represent a co-occurring subspecies (the red-sided garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis), which is not of conservation concern. However, both T. s. annectens and T. s. parietalis are genetically distinctive from another co-occurring subspecies, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis, and the ecological distinctness of T. s. annectens from T. s. parietalis suggests that T. s. annectens is, in fact, a distinct evolutionary subunit. Only when both genetic and ecological information were included was the distinctiveness of T. s. annectens apparent, thus highlighting the need for integrative approaches in conservation management regardless of the taxa in question. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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