DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Phylogeny of the Liolaemus montanus group and high resolution species delimitation in the L. robustus clade (Squamata, Liolaemidae).

热带安第斯山脉为许多动植物种群的生物多样性研究提供了一个天然实验室，但许多特有物种仅限于研究较少的偏远高海拔地区。这些鲜为人知的类群之一是蜥蜴属Liolaemus，该项目将使用DNA序列来：1)提出该属一个主要亚类(被认为包含约45个物种)的进化关系假说；2)评估在Liolaemus较小物种类群中划分物种的替代方法。对于这两个目标，我们将对新的地理位置进行采样，并首次使用“下一代”DNA测序技术来收集目标群体的大型分子数据集，以及基于多个独立的数据类别(形态、生态、DNA等)来解析物种边界的较新的统计方法。这些蜥蜴将作为其他生物多样性研究的模式生物，并促进对热带安第斯生物群的进一步野外采样和综合分类研究。我们的研究将揭示隐秘的多样性，促进新物种的发现，并提供更好的了解该地区的生物多样性？S。新物种的描述将涉及本科生合著者，而进化关系的重建将作为比较研究这些蜥蜴胎生进化的框架，以及它们是如何在最严酷的高海拔安第斯气候中定居的。这个项目将通过开发一个大型单核苷酸多态(SNP)数据集来产生新的数据，并使用新的基于非树的物种界定方法(SDL)来测试粗壮Liolaemus物种群体中蜥蜴的替代物种假说。这项研究将基于线粒体(MT)DNA、形态和生物气候数据来检验SDL假设。该项目将使用SNP数据使用不需要指南树的新贝叶斯因子SDL方法来测试这些替代方案，并在非嵌套替代模型中进行比较。这项研究将提供关于这一特定蜥蜴分支的进化史的新知识，并在南美洲一个鲜为人知但生物多样性丰富的地区测试这种方法的实用性。我们还将根据迄今可用的最广泛的物种和特征样本，为鲜为人知的Liolaemus montanus分支建立最完整的系统发育图。

The tropical Andes provide a natural laboratory for biodiversity studies for many animal and plant groups, yet many of the endemic species are restricted to remote high-elevation areas that are poorly studied. One of these poorly-known groups is the lizard genus Liolaemus, and this project will use DNA sequences to: 1) propose a hypothesis of evolutionary relationships for one major subgroup of this genus (thought to contain ~ 45 species); and 2) evaluate alternative methods of delimiting species in a smaller species group of Liolaemus. For both objectives we will sample new geographic locations, and for the first time employ 'Next Generation' DNA sequencing technologies to collect large molecular data sets for the target groups, and newer statistical methods for resolving species boundaries based on multiple independent classes of data (morphology, ecology, DNA, etc.). These lizards will serve as model organisms for other biodiversity studies, and stimulate further field sampling and integrative taxonomic studies of the tropical Andean biota. Our study will reveal cryptic diversity, promote the discovery of the new species, and provide a better understanding of the region?s biodiversity. The description of new species will involve undergraduate student co-authors, while reconstruction of evolutionary relationships will serve as a framework for comparative studies of the evolution of viviparity in these lizards, and how they have colonized the harshest high-elevation Andean climates.This project will generate new data via development of a large Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) dataset, and employ new non-tree based species delimitation methods (SDL) to test alternative species hypotheses in the lizards of the Liolaemus robustus species group. This research will test SDL hypotheses based on mitochondrial (mt) DNA, morphological, and bioclimatic data. The project will test these alternatives with SNP data using a new Bayes factor SDL approach that does not require a guide tree, and compares across non-nested alternative models. This study will provide new knowledge about the evolutionary history of this particular clade of lizards, and test the utility of this approach in a poorly-known but biodiversity-rich part of South America. We will also develop the most complete phylogeny for the poorly-known Liolaemus montanus clade, based on the most extensive sampling of species and characters available to date.