scholarly journals The role of Central American barriers in shaping the evolutionary history of the northernmost glassfrog,Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni(Anura: Centrolenidae)

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela M. Mendoza ◽  
Wilmar Bolívar-García ◽  
Ella Vázquez-Domínguez ◽  
Roberto Ibáñez ◽  
Gabriela Parra Olea
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Central America ◽  
Population Expansion ◽  
Central American ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

The complex geological history of Central America has been useful for understanding the processes influencing the distribution and diversity of multiple groups of organisms. Anurans are an excellent choice for such studies because they typically exhibit site fidelity and reduced movement. The objective of this work was to identify the impact of recognized geographic barriers on the genetic structure, phylogeographic patterns and divergence times of a wide-ranging amphibian species,Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni. We amplified three mitochondrial regions, two coding (COI and ND1) and one ribosomal (16S), in samples collected from the coasts of Veracruz and Guerrero in Mexico to the humid forests of Chocó in Ecuador. We examined the biogeographic history of the species through spatial clustering analyses (Geneland and sPCA), Bayesian and maximum likelihood reconstructions, and spatiotemporal diffusion analysis. Our data suggest a Central American origin ofH. fleischmanniand two posterior independent dispersals towards North and South American regions. The first clade comprises individuals from Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and the sister speciesHyalinobatrachium tatayoi; this clade shows little structure, despite the presence of the Andes mountain range and the long distances between sampling sites. The second clade consists of individuals from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and eastern Honduras with no apparent structure. The third clade includes individuals from western Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico and displays deep population structure. Herein, we synthesize the impact of known geographic areas that act as barriers to glassfrog dispersal and demonstrated their effect of differentiatingH. fleischmanniinto three markedly isolated clades. The observed genetic structure is associated with an initial dispersal event from Central America followed by vicariance that likely occurred during the Pliocene. The southern samples are characterized by a very recent population expansion, likely related to sea-level and climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene, whereas the structure of the northern clade has probably been driven by dispersal through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and isolation by the Motagua–Polochic–Jocotán fault system and the Mexican highlands.

scholarly journals Recent and Rapid Radiation of the Highly Endangered Harlequin Frogs (Atelopus) into Central America Inferred from Mitochondrial DNA Sequences

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 360
Author(s):  
Juan Ramírez ◽  
César Jaramillo ◽  
Erik Lindquist ◽  
Andrew Crawford ◽  
Roberto Ibáñez
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
South America ◽  
Central America ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Central American ◽  
Tree Model ◽  
South American Species ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Museum Samples ◽  
History Of

Populations of amphibians are experiencing severe declines worldwide. One group with the most catastrophic declines is the Neotropical genus Atelopus (Anura: Bufonidae). Many species of Atelopus have not been seen for decades and all eight Central American species are considered “Critically Endangered”, three of them very likely extinct. Nonetheless, the taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeographic history of Central American Atelopus are still poorly known. In this study, the phylogenetic relationships among seven of the eight described species in Central America were inferred based on mitochondrial DNA sequences from 103 individuals, including decades-old museum samples and two likely extinct species, plus ten South American species. Among Central American samples, we discovered two candidate species that should be incorporated into conservation programs. Phylogenetic inference revealed a ladderized topology, placing species geographically furthest from South America more nested in the tree. Model-based ancestral area estimation supported either one or two colonization events from South America. Relaxed-clock analysis of divergence times indicated that Atelopus colonized Central America prior to 4 million years ago (Ma), supporting a slightly older than traditional date for the closure of the Isthmus. This study highlights the invaluable role of museum collections in documenting past biodiversity, and these results could guide future conservation efforts. An abstract in Spanish (Resumen) is available as supplementary material.

Leadership in Rural Central American Villages

2020 ◽  
pp. 53-64
Author(s):  
Yanira Oliveras-Ortiz ◽  
Wesley D. Hickey ◽  
Jennifer S. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
Central America ◽  
Education System ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Strategic Thinking ◽  
Central American ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Role Of The Principal

Educational leaders in rural schools across the world face distinctive challenges. In this chapter, the authors report the findings of two studies examined through narrative inquiry conducted in a Garifuna and Ketchi Mayan village in Central America. The case studies explore the role of the principal as a strategic leader to improve the education system, and the impact of these leaders in their communities. By sharing these stories, the authors illustrate the importance of strategic thinking, as well as both transformative and servant leadership to promote change.

scholarly journals Genetic structure and biogeographic history of the Bicknell’s Thrush/ Gray-cheeked Thrush species complex

The Auk ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa M Fitzgerald ◽  
Jason Weir ◽  
Joel Ralston ◽  
Ian G Warkentin ◽  
Darroch M Whitaker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Species Complex ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Bicknell's Thrush

Abstract We examined species limits, admixture, and genetic structure among populations in the Bicknell’s Thrush (Catharus bicknelli)–Gray-cheeked Thrush (C. minimus) species complex to establish the geographic and temporal context of speciation in this group, which is a model system in ecology and a high conservation priority. We obtained mitochondrial ND2 sequences from 186 Bicknell’s Thrushes, 77 Gray-cheeked Thrushes, and 55 individuals of their closest relative, the Veery (C. fuscescens), and genotyped a subset of individuals (n = 72) at 5,633 anonymous single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) loci. Between-species sequence divergence was an order of magnitude greater than divergence within each species, divergence was dated to the late Pleistocene (420 kbp) based on Bayesian coalescence estimation, and a coalescent model (IMa) revealed almost no gene flow between species based on ND2. SNP data were consistent with mitochondrial results and revealed low levels of admixture among species (3 of 37 Bicknell’s Thrushes, no Gray-cheeked Thrushes, and no Veeries were >2% admixed). Species distribution models projected to the Last Glacial Maximum suggest that Bicknell’s Thrush and Gray-cheeked Thrush resided in primarily allopatric refugia in the late Pleistocene, consistent with the genetic data that support reproductive isolation over an extended period of time. Our genetic data suggest that both species underwent demographic expansions, possibly as they expanded out of Pleistocene refugia into their current ranges. We conclude that Bicknell’s Thrush and Gray-cheeked Thrush are 2 distinct species-level lineages despite low levels of Gray-cheeked Thrush introgression in Bicknell’s Thrushes, and divergence has been maintained by a long history of allopatry in subtly different habitats. Their unique phylogeography among boreal forest birds indicates that either cryptic species breaks in eastern North America are still undiscovered, or another factor, such as divergent natural selection, high migratory connectivity, or interspecific competition, played a role in their divergence.

Scott Cook. Understanding Commodity Cultures: Explorations in Economic Anthropology with Case Studies from Mexico. Lanham, Rowman & Littleford Publishers, Inc., 2004, xi, 349 pp.

2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 892-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Gift Exchange ◽  
Central American ◽  
Economic Anthropology ◽  
Market Exchange ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
The People ◽  
The Gift ◽  
The Impact

Economic anthropology has two ‘sacred' field sites—one in Melanesia, the other in Central America—and the empirical data gathered from these sites has set the theoretical agenda for the sub-discipline. Malinowski conducted seminal fieldwork in both of these areas and the respective subjects of his investigations tells us much about the socio-economic concerns of people in Melanesia and Central America. His classic ethnography on the Kula exchange system of the Milne Bay area of Papua New Guinea, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, established Melanesia as the classic home of gift exchange. The postwar ethnographies have only served to confirm the passion Melanesians have for creating intricate forms of gift exchange: Andrew Strathern's The Rope of Moka, introduced us to the ties that bind the ‘big men' in the Highlands; Michael Young's Fighting with Food: Leadership, Values and Social Control in a Massim Society, challenged us to rethink the social role of food, and so on. These ethnographies, and many others like them, have provided the ethnographic base on which general theories of the gift have risen, Marilyn Strathern's The Gender of the Gift: Problems with Women and Problems with Society in Melanesia, being the best-known recent synthesis. The product of Malinowski's Central American fieldwork, Malinowski in Mexico: The Economics of a Mexican Market System (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982), which he wrote with J. de la Fuente, has not had the impact of Argonauts, for a number of reasons, including the fact that an English translation of the 1957 Spanish edition took some twenty-five years to appear, and that his research, carried out in 1940, was not pioneering in the same ethnographic and theoretical way that Argonauts was. His Mexican work was part of a long tradition of American scholarship on the peasant-artisan commodity producers of this area. Commodity production and exchange is to the people of Central America what gift exchange is to Melanesians. However, the exchange of commodities in Central America is a not ceremonial ritual, but rather everyday reality that the people must undertake in order to survive. It has been this way for centuries, which is why Central American ethnographers have devoted so much time to describing and analyzing petty commodity reproduction. This is not to say that market exchange is unimportant for the people of Melanesia, but what sets Melanesia apart is that gift exchange has flourished under the impact of capitalism, and it is this question that commentators have tried to describe and explain. What then are the peculiar social conditions found in Central America that account for the specificities of the economy found there? What conceptual frameworks have economic anthropologists developed to come to terms with these facts?

Central America-US Relations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan D. McCormick
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Democratic Capitalism ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War

Since gaining independence in 1823, the states comprising Central America have had a front seat to the rise of the United States as a global superpower. Indeed, more so than anywhere else, the United States has sought to use its power to shape Central America into a system that heeds US interests and abides by principles of liberal democratic capitalism. Relations have been characterized by US power wielded freely by officials and non-state actors alike to override the aspirations of Central American actors in favor of US political and economic objectives: from the days of US filibusterers invading Nicaragua in search of territory; to the occupations of the Dollar Diplomacy era, designed to maintain financial and economic stability; to the covert interventions of the Cold War era. For their part, the Central American states have, at various times, sought to challenge the brunt of US hegemony, most effectively when coordinating their foreign policies to balance against US power. These efforts—even when not rejected by the United States—have generally been short-lived, hampered by economic dependency and political rivalries. The result is a history of US-Central American relations that wavers between confrontation and cooperation, but is remarkable for the consistency of its main element: US dominance.

scholarly journals Did true frogs ‘dispersify’?

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 20170299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kin Onn Chan ◽  
Rafe M. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Range Expansion ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Fundamental Interest ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Ideal System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biogeographic Regions ◽  
Geographical Expansion ◽  
The Impact

The interplay between range expansion and concomitant diversification is of fundamental interest to evolutionary biologists, particularly when linked to intercontinental dispersal and/or large scale extinctions. The evolutionary history of true frogs has been characterized by circumglobal range expansion. As a lineage that survived the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event (EOEE), the group provides an ideal system to test the prediction that range expansion triggers increased net diversification. We constructed the most densely sampled, time-calibrated phylogeny to date in order to: (i) characterize tempo and patterns of diversification; (ii) assess the impact of the EOEE; and (iii) test the hypothesis that range expansion was followed by increased net diversification. We show that late Eocene colonization of novel biogeographic regions was not affected by the EOEE and surprisingly, global expansion was not followed by increased net diversification. On the contrary, the diversification rate declined or did not shift following geographical expansion. Thus, the diversification history of true frogs contradicts the prevailing expectation that amphibian net diversification accelerated towards the present or increased following range expansion. Rather, our results demonstrate that despite their dynamic biogeographic history, true frogs diversified at a relatively constantly rate, even as they colonized the major land masses of Earth.

scholarly journals Amphibian diversity in Serranía de Majé, an isolated mountain range in eastern Panamá

ZooKeys ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 859 ◽  
pp. 117-130
Author(s):  
Daniel Medina ◽  
Roberto Ibáñez ◽  
Karen R. Lips ◽  
Andrew J. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Distribution Pattern ◽  
Central America ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspot ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Rarefaction Curves ◽  
Induced Changes

Eastern Panamá is within the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot and supports an understudied amphibian fauna. Here we characterize the amphibian diversity across an elevational gradient in one of the least studied mountain ranges in eastern Panamá, Serranía de Majé. A total of 38 species were found, which represent 17% of all species reported for Panamá. Based on expected richness function and individual-based rarefaction curves, it is estimated that this is an underestimate and that at least 44 amphibian species occur in this area. Members of all three amphibian orders were encountered, represented by ten families and 22 genera, including five species endemic to Central America. Estimated species richness decreased with elevation, and the mid-elevation site supported both lowland and highland species. Our study provides a baseline for understanding the distribution pattern of amphibians in Panamá, for conservation efforts, and for determining disease-induced changes in amphibian communities.

scholarly journals Genetic structure of the grey side-gilled sea slug (Pleurobranchaea maculata) in coastal waters of New Zealand

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeşerin Yıldırım ◽  
Marti J. Anderson ◽  
Selina Patel ◽  
Craig D. Millar ◽  
Paul B. Rainey
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Population Expansion ◽  
Haplotype Network ◽  
Founding Population ◽  
Mtdna Sequence ◽  
Expansion Time ◽  
History Of

AbstractPleurobranchaea maculatais a rarely studied species of the Heterobranchia found throughout the south and western Pacific – and recently recorded in Argentina – whose population genetic structure is unknown. Interest in the species was sparked in New Zealand following a series of dog deaths caused by ingestions of slugs containing high levels of the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin. Here we describe the genetic structure and demographic history ofP. maculatapopulations from five principle locations in New Zealand based on extensive analyses of 12 microsatellite loci and theCOIandCytBregions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Microsatellite data showed significant differentiation between northern and southern populations with population structure being associated with previously described regional variations in tetrodotoxin concentrations. However, mtDNA sequence data did not support such structure, revealing a star-shaped haplotype network with estimates of expansion time suggesting a population expansion in the Pleistocene era. Inclusion of publicly available mtDNA sequence from Argentinian sea slugs did not alter the star-shaped network. We interpret our data as indicative of a single founding population that fragmented following geographical changes that brought about the present day north-south divide in New Zealand waters. Lack of evidence of cryptic species supports data indicating that differences in toxicity of individuals among regions are a consequence of differences in diet.

scholarly journals Phylogeography of Nasutitermes ephratae (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) in Neotropical region

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda de Faria Santos ◽  
Eliana Marques Cancello ◽  
Adriana Coletto Morales
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Central America ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Haplotype Network ◽  
Neotropical Region ◽  
Ancestral Area ◽  
Genetic Patterns ◽  
Dispersal Route ◽  
Ancestral Area Reconstruction ◽  
History Of

Abstract The neotropical region ranks third in the number of termites with five different families. Of these, Termitidae is the most diverse and includes the species Nasutitermes ephratae and is common in the neotropics. To date, only one study has been published about phylogeographic issues in neotropical termites (N. corniger). Here, we aimed to investigate and analyze the population genetic patterns of N. ephratae and then evaluated the phylogeographical processes involved in the evolutionary history of the species. We used the mitochondrial genes 16S rRNA and COII as molecular markers: These were sequenced for 128 samples of N. ephratae. We estimated the genetic diversity and divergence time as well as the demographic and genetic structure analyses. We also produced ancestral area reconstruction and a haplotype network. The results showed high genetic variability, recent demographic expansion, and strong genetic structure. We also inferred a dispersal route for the species that occurred in both directions between South and Central America. The results emphasize a temporary separation between the South and Central America population that affected the origin of the current Central America populations. These were formed form different phylogeographic histories.

scholarly journals Phylogeny and biogeography of Sumatra´s cloud forest lizards of the genus Dendragama and status of Acanthosaura schneideri

ZooKeys ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 995 ◽  
pp. 127-153
Author(s):  
Kyle J. Shaney ◽  
Michael B. Harvey ◽  
Amir Hamidy ◽  
Nia Kurniawan ◽  
Eric N. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Genetic Distances ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
Biogeographic Patterns ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
West Sumatra ◽  
History Of ◽  
North Sumatra

Lizards of the genus Dendragama are endemic to the highland cloud forests of Sumatra’s Barisan Mountain Range in western Indonesia, and recent studies have uncovered widespread diversity within the genus. Here, a suite of morphological characters and mitochondrial DNA are used to compare three geographically isolated populations of D. boulengeri from (1) Mount Kerinci in Jambi province, (2) Mount Marapi of west Sumatra, and (3) the Karo Highlands of north Sumatra. Additional phylogeographic analyses with two recently described sister species, D. australis and D. dioidema were conducted. Five genetically distinct clades of Dendragama, all distributed allopatrically of one another were identified and some are suspected to inhabit small distributions. Morphological and genetic data confirm the Karo Highlands population D. schneideri (previously Acanthosaura schneideri Ahl, 1926) should be revalidated from the synonymy of D. boulengeri. Dendragama schneideri is endemic to montane forests of the Karo Highlands surrounding Lake Toba in Sumatra Utara province. Pairwise genetic distances of 6–11% separate D. schneideri from congeners. Two distinct clades of D. boulengeri from Mount Kerinci and Mount Marapi were identified, which are 5.0% genetically distant from one another. Using morphological characters, we provide the first key for distinguishing between species of Dendragama. Based on biogeographic patterns and levels of genetic variation it is suspected that at least 18 other isolated cloud forest locations may hold new species or divergent populations of Dendragama but lack survey work. Collectively, these comparisons among populations of montane lizards further elucidate the complex biogeographic history of Sumatra’s montane forest species and the first phylogeny of the genus Dendragama.

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