Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) f... more Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) from the northwestern portion of the Cardamom Mountains are reported. Six of these, including three undescribed species, are new records for Cambodia. This underscores the importance of the Cardamom Mountains and Cambodia as a whole in biodiversity estimates of Indochina and the extent to which it
As the fields of molecular systematics and phylogeography are advancing, it is necessary to incor... more As the fields of molecular systematics and phylogeography are advancing, it is necessary to incorporate multiple loci in both population and species-level inference. Here, we present primer sets for 104 intronless orthologus exons designed for amplification in all squamates. When comparing the Anolis genome to the Gallus genome, all the markers have less than 67.2% DNA sequence identity, the percent identity of the first third of the commonly used nuclear marker RAG-1. The rate of evolution in these markers is therefore greater than nuclear markers commonly used, and we demonstrate their usefulness for both phylogeographic and phylogenetic studies
Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) f... more Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) from the northwestern portion of the Cardamom Mountains are reported. Six of these, including three undescribed species, are new records for Cambodia. This underscores the importance of the Cardamom Mountains and Cambodia as a whole in biodiversity estimates of Indochina and the extent to which it still remains understudied.
The Southeast Asian colubrid snake Oligodon purpurascens (Schlegel, 1837) exhibits a strongly bim... more The Southeast Asian colubrid snake Oligodon purpurascens (Schlegel, 1837) exhibits a strongly bimodal variation in color pattern. Two competing hypotheses can be put forward to explain the coexistence of the two phenotypes. According to the first hypothesis, the two phenotypes are the result of a color pattern polymorphism within Oligodon purpurascens. According to the second, the two phenotypes in fact represent distinct, sympatrically oc- curring, taxa. In this study, multivariate analyses of morphological data as well as a phylogenetic analysis of a small segment of mitochondrial DNA were used to assess the likelihood of each of these hypotheses. The results strongly support the polymorphism-hypothesis. The incidence of each phenotype in various areas suggests that negative frequency-dependent selection maintains the coexistence of the two phenotypes.
The Seribuat Archipelago is an environmentally complex group of 62 islands which lie off the sout... more The Seribuat Archipelago is an environmentally complex group of 62 islands which lie off the southeast coast of Peninsular Malaysia in the South China Sea. Its herpetofauna, which is documented herein for the first time, contains 23 species of frogs, one species of non-marine turtle, 43 species of lizards, 44 species of non-marine snakes, and represents a diverse array of adaptive types. Of these, one frog, 11 lizards and four snakes are endemic. The majority of the herpetofauna, including 14 of the 16 endemics, occurs in the outermost arc of islands which are the oldest, largest, and most environmentally diverse. Some of the species in this Outer Arc are more closely related to species from Sumatra, Java, and/or Borneo than they are to species from peninsular Malaysia, suggesting they had a vicariant origin. KEY WORDS. -Seribuat Archipelago, Herpetofauna, Malaysia, Endemic, Biogeography.
Two new species of montane, torrent-dwelling toads of the genus Ansonia from Fraser's Hill and Su... more Two new species of montane, torrent-dwelling toads of the genus Ansonia from Fraser's Hill and Sungai Lembing, Pahang, West Malaysia are described based on morphological and color pattern characteristics. The new species from Sungai Lembing most closely resembles A. leptopus of Borneo but differs from it in numerous aspects of its mandibular asperites, degree of toe webbing, presence of warts at the angle of the jaw, size of tubercles around the tympanum, having an inner metatarsal tubercle, lacking rows of tubercles on the back, having paired vocal slits, and having a light dorsal spot between the scapulae. The new species from Fraser's Hill most closely resembles A. malayana but differs from it in its greater degree of dorsal tuberculation, more webbing on the third and fifth toes and less webbing on the first and fourth toes, and various aspects of coloration. Finally, we express the importance of continuing to conduct montane surveys in remote areas as well as in those areas that are considered to be well-studied.
Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) f... more Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) from the northwestern portion of the Cardamom Mountains are reported. Six of these, including three undescribed species, are new records for Cambodia. This underscores the importance of the Cardamom Mountains and Cambodia as a whole in biodiversity estimates of Indochina and the extent to which it still remains understudied.
A new endemic species of Gekko, G. russelltraini, is described from Chua Chan Mountain, an isolat... more A new endemic species of Gekko, G. russelltraini, is described from Chua Chan Mountain, an isolated granitic peak in the Xuan Loc district, Dong Nai province, southeastern Vietnam. The species is distinguished from its congeners by its moderate size (SVL 70.3-82.9 mm), 8-11 precloacal pores in males, 12-16 longitudinal rows of very weakly enlarged, smooth dorsal tubercles, 17-18 lamellae beneath digit IV of pes, and dorsal pattern of five to seven white vertebral blotches between nape and sacrum and four to seven pairs of short white bands on flanks between limb insertions. Gekko russelltraini is a member of a group of mid-sized Indochinese Gekko sharing similar habitus, scalation, and color pattern elements and is the seventh member of its genus confirmed for Vietnam.
As the fields of molecular systematics and phylogeography are advancing, it is necessary to incor... more As the fields of molecular systematics and phylogeography are advancing, it is necessary to incorporate multiple loci in both population and species-level inference. Here, we present primer sets for 104 intronless orthologus exons designed for amplification in all squamates. When comparing the Anolis genome to the Gallus genome, all the markers have less than 67.2% DNA sequence identity, the percent identity of the first third of the commonly used nuclear marker RAG-1. The rate of evolution in these markers is therefore greater than nuclear markers commonly used, and we demonstrate their usefulness for both phylogeographic and phylogenetic studies.
The three major mountain ranges of Peninsular Malaysia comprise areas of extreme environmental di... more The three major mountain ranges of Peninsular Malaysia comprise areas of extreme environmental diversity, yet they remain relatively unexplored. Although herpetofaunal records from these upland systems are scattered throughout a wide body of literature, only two major studies have focused on the largest mountain system, the Banjaran Titiwangsa and only one major survey was published for a locality in the easternmost range, the Banjaran Timur. The smallest range of mountains in northwestern Peninsular Malaysia, the Banjaran Bintang, has had no major studies focusing specifically on the composition of its herpetofauna. This is despite the fact that it harbors the type localities of seven species of frogs, one caecilian, 10 species of lizards, and four species of snakes, the vast majority of which come from one locality at Bukit Larut, Perak. This study complies all the herpetofaunal records from the literature and museum collections from the Banjaran Bintang as well as presents new locality records for seven species of frogs, one species of lizard, and five species of snakes. This brings the total number of species known from the Banjaran Bintang to 107 (41 frogs, two caecilians, three turtles, 31 lizards, and 30 snakes). In this regard, the much smaller Banjaran Bintang has significantly more species of amphibians and reptiles than any other upland system in Peninsular Malaysia. We regard this as a collecting artifact that underscores the unexplored nature of the other mountain ranges.
Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) f... more Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) from the northwestern portion of the Cardamom Mountains are reported. Six of these, including three undescribed species, are new records for Cambodia. This underscores the importance of the Cardamom Mountains and Cambodia as a whole in biodiversity estimates of Indochina and the extent to which it
As the fields of molecular systematics and phylogeography are advancing, it is necessary to incor... more As the fields of molecular systematics and phylogeography are advancing, it is necessary to incorporate multiple loci in both population and species-level inference. Here, we present primer sets for 104 intronless orthologus exons designed for amplification in all squamates. When comparing the Anolis genome to the Gallus genome, all the markers have less than 67.2% DNA sequence identity, the percent identity of the first third of the commonly used nuclear marker RAG-1. The rate of evolution in these markers is therefore greater than nuclear markers commonly used, and we demonstrate their usefulness for both phylogeographic and phylogenetic studies
Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) f... more Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) from the northwestern portion of the Cardamom Mountains are reported. Six of these, including three undescribed species, are new records for Cambodia. This underscores the importance of the Cardamom Mountains and Cambodia as a whole in biodiversity estimates of Indochina and the extent to which it still remains understudied.
The Southeast Asian colubrid snake Oligodon purpurascens (Schlegel, 1837) exhibits a strongly bim... more The Southeast Asian colubrid snake Oligodon purpurascens (Schlegel, 1837) exhibits a strongly bimodal variation in color pattern. Two competing hypotheses can be put forward to explain the coexistence of the two phenotypes. According to the first hypothesis, the two phenotypes are the result of a color pattern polymorphism within Oligodon purpurascens. According to the second, the two phenotypes in fact represent distinct, sympatrically oc- curring, taxa. In this study, multivariate analyses of morphological data as well as a phylogenetic analysis of a small segment of mitochondrial DNA were used to assess the likelihood of each of these hypotheses. The results strongly support the polymorphism-hypothesis. The incidence of each phenotype in various areas suggests that negative frequency-dependent selection maintains the coexistence of the two phenotypes.
The Seribuat Archipelago is an environmentally complex group of 62 islands which lie off the sout... more The Seribuat Archipelago is an environmentally complex group of 62 islands which lie off the southeast coast of Peninsular Malaysia in the South China Sea. Its herpetofauna, which is documented herein for the first time, contains 23 species of frogs, one species of non-marine turtle, 43 species of lizards, 44 species of non-marine snakes, and represents a diverse array of adaptive types. Of these, one frog, 11 lizards and four snakes are endemic. The majority of the herpetofauna, including 14 of the 16 endemics, occurs in the outermost arc of islands which are the oldest, largest, and most environmentally diverse. Some of the species in this Outer Arc are more closely related to species from Sumatra, Java, and/or Borneo than they are to species from peninsular Malaysia, suggesting they had a vicariant origin. KEY WORDS. -Seribuat Archipelago, Herpetofauna, Malaysia, Endemic, Biogeography.
Two new species of montane, torrent-dwelling toads of the genus Ansonia from Fraser's Hill and Su... more Two new species of montane, torrent-dwelling toads of the genus Ansonia from Fraser's Hill and Sungai Lembing, Pahang, West Malaysia are described based on morphological and color pattern characteristics. The new species from Sungai Lembing most closely resembles A. leptopus of Borneo but differs from it in numerous aspects of its mandibular asperites, degree of toe webbing, presence of warts at the angle of the jaw, size of tubercles around the tympanum, having an inner metatarsal tubercle, lacking rows of tubercles on the back, having paired vocal slits, and having a light dorsal spot between the scapulae. The new species from Fraser's Hill most closely resembles A. malayana but differs from it in its greater degree of dorsal tuberculation, more webbing on the third and fifth toes and less webbing on the first and fourth toes, and various aspects of coloration. Finally, we express the importance of continuing to conduct montane surveys in remote areas as well as in those areas that are considered to be well-studied.
Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) f... more Nineteen novel records of amphibians and reptiles (eight frogs, seven lizards, and four snakes) from the northwestern portion of the Cardamom Mountains are reported. Six of these, including three undescribed species, are new records for Cambodia. This underscores the importance of the Cardamom Mountains and Cambodia as a whole in biodiversity estimates of Indochina and the extent to which it still remains understudied.
A new endemic species of Gekko, G. russelltraini, is described from Chua Chan Mountain, an isolat... more A new endemic species of Gekko, G. russelltraini, is described from Chua Chan Mountain, an isolated granitic peak in the Xuan Loc district, Dong Nai province, southeastern Vietnam. The species is distinguished from its congeners by its moderate size (SVL 70.3-82.9 mm), 8-11 precloacal pores in males, 12-16 longitudinal rows of very weakly enlarged, smooth dorsal tubercles, 17-18 lamellae beneath digit IV of pes, and dorsal pattern of five to seven white vertebral blotches between nape and sacrum and four to seven pairs of short white bands on flanks between limb insertions. Gekko russelltraini is a member of a group of mid-sized Indochinese Gekko sharing similar habitus, scalation, and color pattern elements and is the seventh member of its genus confirmed for Vietnam.
As the fields of molecular systematics and phylogeography are advancing, it is necessary to incor... more As the fields of molecular systematics and phylogeography are advancing, it is necessary to incorporate multiple loci in both population and species-level inference. Here, we present primer sets for 104 intronless orthologus exons designed for amplification in all squamates. When comparing the Anolis genome to the Gallus genome, all the markers have less than 67.2% DNA sequence identity, the percent identity of the first third of the commonly used nuclear marker RAG-1. The rate of evolution in these markers is therefore greater than nuclear markers commonly used, and we demonstrate their usefulness for both phylogeographic and phylogenetic studies.
The three major mountain ranges of Peninsular Malaysia comprise areas of extreme environmental di... more The three major mountain ranges of Peninsular Malaysia comprise areas of extreme environmental diversity, yet they remain relatively unexplored. Although herpetofaunal records from these upland systems are scattered throughout a wide body of literature, only two major studies have focused on the largest mountain system, the Banjaran Titiwangsa and only one major survey was published for a locality in the easternmost range, the Banjaran Timur. The smallest range of mountains in northwestern Peninsular Malaysia, the Banjaran Bintang, has had no major studies focusing specifically on the composition of its herpetofauna. This is despite the fact that it harbors the type localities of seven species of frogs, one caecilian, 10 species of lizards, and four species of snakes, the vast majority of which come from one locality at Bukit Larut, Perak. This study complies all the herpetofaunal records from the literature and museum collections from the Banjaran Bintang as well as presents new locality records for seven species of frogs, one species of lizard, and five species of snakes. This brings the total number of species known from the Banjaran Bintang to 107 (41 frogs, two caecilians, three turtles, 31 lizards, and 30 snakes). In this regard, the much smaller Banjaran Bintang has significantly more species of amphibians and reptiles than any other upland system in Peninsular Malaysia. We regard this as a collecting artifact that underscores the unexplored nature of the other mountain ranges.
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