TY - JOUR
T1 - Phylogenomics, biogeography and taxonomic revision of New Guinean pythons (Pythonidae, Leiopython) harvested for international trade
AU - Natusch, Daniel J. D.
AU - Esquerré, Damien
AU - Lyons, Jessica A.
AU - Hamidy, Amir
AU - Lemmon, Alan R.
AU - Lemmon, Emily Moriarty
AU - Riyanto, Awal
AU - Keogh, J. Scott
AU - Donnellan, Stephen
PY - 2021/5
Y1 - 2021/5
N2 - The large and enigmatic New Guinean pythons in the genus Leiopython are harvested from the wild to supply the international trade in pets. Six species are currently recognized (albertisii, biakensis, fredparkeri, huonensis, meridionalis, montanus) but the taxonomy of this group has been controversial. We combined analysis of 421 nuclear loci and complete mitochondrial genomes with morphological data to construct a detailed phylogeny of this group, understand their biogeographic patterns and establish the systematic diversity of this genus. Our molecular genetic data support two major clades, corresponding to L. albertisii and L. fredparkeri, but offer no support for the other four species. Our morphological data also only support two species. We therefore recognize L. albertisii and L. fredparkeri as valid species and place L. biakensis, L. meridionalis, L. huonensis and L. montanus into synonymy. We found that L. albertisii and L. fredparkeri are sympatric in western New Guinea; an atypical pattern compared to other Papuan species complexes in which the distributions of sister taxa are partitioned to the north and south of the island's central mountain range. For the purpose of conservation management, overestimation of species diversity within Leiopython has resulted in the unnecessary allocation of resources that could have been expended elsewhere. We strongly caution against revising the taxonomy of geographically widespread species groups when little or no molecular genetic data and only small morphological samples are available.
AB - The large and enigmatic New Guinean pythons in the genus Leiopython are harvested from the wild to supply the international trade in pets. Six species are currently recognized (albertisii, biakensis, fredparkeri, huonensis, meridionalis, montanus) but the taxonomy of this group has been controversial. We combined analysis of 421 nuclear loci and complete mitochondrial genomes with morphological data to construct a detailed phylogeny of this group, understand their biogeographic patterns and establish the systematic diversity of this genus. Our molecular genetic data support two major clades, corresponding to L. albertisii and L. fredparkeri, but offer no support for the other four species. Our morphological data also only support two species. We therefore recognize L. albertisii and L. fredparkeri as valid species and place L. biakensis, L. meridionalis, L. huonensis and L. montanus into synonymy. We found that L. albertisii and L. fredparkeri are sympatric in western New Guinea; an atypical pattern compared to other Papuan species complexes in which the distributions of sister taxa are partitioned to the north and south of the island's central mountain range. For the purpose of conservation management, overestimation of species diversity within Leiopython has resulted in the unnecessary allocation of resources that could have been expended elsewhere. We strongly caution against revising the taxonomy of geographically widespread species groups when little or no molecular genetic data and only small morphological samples are available.
KW - Albertisii
KW - Biogeography
KW - CITES
KW - Conservation Indonesia
KW - Meridionalis
KW - Papua
KW - Wildlife trade
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091711113&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://dataportal.arc.gov.au/NCGP/Web/Grant/Grant/DP120104146
U2 - 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106960
DO - 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106960
M3 - Article
C2 - 32950680
AN - SCOPUS:85091711113
SN - 1055-7903
VL - 158
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
JF - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
M1 - 106960
ER -