Geographic Protein Variation and Speciation in the Plethodon dorsalis Complex
Highton R. 1997. Geographic Protein Variation and Speciation in the Plethodon dorsalis Complex. Herpetologica. 53(3):345-356
In an analysis of protein variation among geographic populations of the zig-zag salamander, Plethodon dorsalis, Larson and Highton found that the amount of genetic divergence is much greater than occurs within most other species of Plethodon. A re-examination of patterns of genetic variation in P. dorsalis indicates that the three most divergent groups should be recognized as different species. Plethodon dorsalis ranges from Illinois and Indiana south to northern and western Kentucky and western Tennessee. Plethodon ventralis sp. nov. ranges from south-central Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and eastern Tennessee south to northwestern Georgia, northern Alabama, and northeastern Mississippi. Plethodon angusticlavius is found in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. A transect through a contact zone between P. dorsalis and P. ventralis in Lincoln County, Kentucky, indicates that there is a narrow hybrid zone <13 km in width between the two species. There is concordant variation in four diagnostic allozyme loci through the hybrid zone, and hybrid populations are genetically more variable than populations of P. dorsalis and P. ventralis on either side of the hybrid zone.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Highton, Richard
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- allozymes, Amphibians, Animal Studies, GRSM-00104, Hybridization, Plethodon angusticlavius, Plethodon dorsalis, Plethodon ventralis new species, Salamander, Speciation