Graduation Semester and Year
2017
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Quantitative Biology
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Matthew K Fujita
Abstract
This dissertation seeks to understand the geological and climatological processes that have promoted diversification on continental and island systems. Using molecular genetic data generated using Sanger sequencing and Next Generation Sequencing platforms, I conduct phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses, estimate gene flow, and conduct species delimitation. Using these analyses, I explore diversification processes on continents and islands using reptile and amphibian systems. In Chapter 2 I evaluate the role of geographical features to whipsnake diversification. Chapter 3 resolves the taxonomy of several poorly understood whipsnakes species and tests the effect of missing data on species delimitation. Chapter 4 investigates the biogeographical processes acting on parachuting frog diversification on the Sunda Shelf, specifically by quantifying the roles of within and between island diversification. Finally, Chapter 5 focuses on the processes that promoted in situ diversification on the island of Sumatra. I found that allopatric diversification is the predominant mode of diversification in whipsnakes and parachuting frogs, and that parachuting frogs diversified via in situ diversification on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
Keywords
Diversification, Indonesia, herpetology, biogeography, species delimitation, systematics
Disciplines
Biology | Life Sciences
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
O'Connell, Kyle Anthony, "DIVERSIFICATION ON CONTINENTS AND ISLANDS: A HERPETOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE" (2017). Biology Dissertations. 154.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/biology_dissertations/154
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington