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Patterns of genetic diversity in the polymorphic ground snake (Sonora semiannulata)

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Abstract

We evaluated the genetic diversity of a snake species with color polymorphism to understand the evolutionary processes that drive genetic structure across a large geographic region. Specifically, we analyzed genetic structure of the highly polymorphic ground snake, Sonora semiannulata, (1) among populations, (2) among color morphs (3) at regional and local spatial scales, using an amplified fragment length polymorphism dataset and multiple population genetic analyses, including FST-based and clustering analytical techniques. Based upon these methods, we found that there was moderate to low genetic structure among populations. However, this diversity was not associated with geographic locality at either spatial scale. Similarly, we found no evidence for genetic divergence among color morphs at either spatial scale. These results suggest that despite dramatic color polymorphism, this phenotypic diversity is not a major driver of genetic diversity within or among populations of ground snakes. We suggest that there are two mechanisms that could explain existing genetic diversity in ground snakes: recent range expansion from a genetically diverse founder population and current or recent gene flow among populations. Our findings have further implications for the types of color polymorphism that may generate genetic diversity in snakes.

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Acknowledgments

We extend our sincere gratitude to A. R. Davis Rabosky for her contributions to fieldwork, study design and the writing of this manuscript. We thank the University of Texas at Arlington Herpetology graduate students, the Texas Herpetological Society (THS), and the Kansas Herpetological Society (KHS) for tissue donation, specimen collection, and logistical assistance. In particular, we are grateful to C. E. Roelke and J. F. Stringer for their logistical assistance in the field and the laboratory. We especially thank the staff and curators at the following museum collections for access to tissues: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Texas Natural History Collection at the University of Texas, University of Texas—El Paso, the Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center at the University of Texas—Arlington, Sam Noble Museum at the University of Oklahoma, and the Sternberg Museum of Natural History at Fort Hayes State University. We also thank B. E. Fontenot, C. E. Roelke, M. Sandel, J. W. Streicher, C. M. Watson, and the R.M. Cox and E. D. Brodie III labs at the University of Virginia for helpful criticism during this project and preparation of the manuscript. We thank the wildlife departments from the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico for necessary scientific collecting permits. This project was funded by the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Fund from the American Museum of Natural History to C.L. Cox, as well as a Systematics Research Fund Award from The Linnean Society and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology (DBI-0906046) to A.R. Davis (Rabosky).

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  1. Department of Biology, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA

    Christian L. Cox

  2. Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, 76010, USA

    Christian L. Cox & Paul T. Chippindale

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Correspondence to Christian L. Cox.

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Cox, C.L., Chippindale, P.T. Patterns of genetic diversity in the polymorphic ground snake (Sonora semiannulata). Genetica 142, 361–370 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-014-9780-7

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