Date of Award

2011-01-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Biological Sciences

Advisor(s)

Eli B. Greenbaum

Abstract

The black-tailed rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus Baird and Girard, 1853) is a wide-ranging species complex with representatives from the southwestern United States through the highlands of central and southern Mexico. The systematics of this group has received little attention and in the past six decades only two taxonomic revisions have been proposed (the transfer of C. basiliscus oaxacus to C. molossus and the elevation of C. m. estebanensis to full species). However, a recent revision of the Neotropical rattlesnakes (C. durissus and C. simus) recovered a polyphyletic C. molossus. Sequenced data were obtained from three mitochondrial genes (ATPases 8 and 6, cyt b and ND4) and three nuclear genes (c-mos, EXPH5 and RAG1) to examine phylogenetic relationships among C. molossus lineages and the closely related species C. basiliscus and C. totonacus. Results recovered strong support for two deeply divergent and polyphyletic northern C. molossus lineages that are morphologically distinct. Biogeographical patterns and divergence dates inferred from mitochondrial data suggest the diversification of C. molossus is the result of a Neogene vicariance event associated with uplift of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Population-level analyses suggested that major lineages of C. molossus have been stable since their initial divergence. On the basis of morphological and molecular evidence I propose that the synonym Crotalus ornatus Hallowell, 1854 be resurrected and applied to populations in the Chihuahuan Desert and central Texas. This thesis represents the most complete phylogenetic analysis of any member of the C. molossus group and demonstrates discordance between the contemporary taxonomy of the group and its true diversity.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

109 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Christopher Anderson

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