Courses/Biol 354
Phylogeography: Why is a population where it is? Geology - hydrology Ecology - climate change Demography - dispersal ability
Phylogeography Populations/closely related species/ within species Recent time Local Where has it been before? How closely related are populations? ==molecular data== Biogeography: Between species Deep time Global
Introns are better markers for phylogeographic studies
Methods to answer phylogeographic questions -Nuclear DNA -Mitochondrial DNA -Chloroplast DNA (plants) Tools -PCA - individuals from same populations are genetically more or less similar than between populations -Structure - what proportion of an individual's ancestry can be attributed to different ancestral populations Full bar = no admixture, half bar = admixture
![[rsbl.2015.0807.pdf]]
Human commensalism usually leads to genetic admixture among populations and a weak association between geography a genetic variation. Human commensal species easily tolerate diverse human made environments. In this study however they found 3 divergent evolutionary lineages Southeast Asia Exhibits high diversity with 51 identified haplotypes. Mismatch distributions suggest a stable population size with significant internal population structure. Myanmar A specialized lineage restricted to tidal mud flats. It represents a case of micro-allopatry, remaining distinct from the mainland clade despite geographical proximity. Sundaic islands Encompasses populations from Sumatra and Java. A lack of genetic structure between these two islands suggests potential recent movement from one to the other, though they remain distinct from mainland populations.
Barrier to admixture This study suggests that admixture can't be persisted by humans because the environments are just not suited for each toad to live in the other environment.
The research identifies the Myanmar–China border as the primary ancestral range for the D. melanostictus clade. This region serves as a significant biogeographic crossroads for South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Malayan faunas.