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David J Gower

Publications and source records attributed to David J Gower.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Global patterns of diversification in the history of modern amphibians.

The fossil record of modern amphibians (frogs, salamanders, and caecilians) provides no evidence for major extinction or radiation episodes throughout most of the Mesozoic and early Tertiary. However, long-term gradual diversification is difficult to reconcile with the sensitivity of present-day amphibian faunas to rapid ecological changes and the incidence of similar environmental perturbations in the past that have been associated with high turnover rates in other land vertebrates. To provide a comprehensive overview of the history of amphibian diversification, we constructed a phylogenetic timetree based on a multigene data set of 3.75 kb for 171 species. Our analyses reveal several episodes of accelerated amphibian diversification, which do not fit models of gradual lineage accumulation. Global turning points in the phylogenetic and ecological diversification occurred after the end-Permian mass extinction and in the late Cretaceous. Fluctuations in amphibian diversification show strong temporal correlation with turnover rates in amniotes and the rise of angiosperm-dominated forests. Approximately 86% of modern frog species and >81% of salamander species descended from only five ancestral lineages that produced major radiations in the late Cretaceous and early Tertiary. This proportionally late accumulation of extant lineage diversity contrasts with the long evolutionary history of amphibians but is in line with the Tertiary increase in fossil abundance toward the present.

Amphibians↗
PubMed2005

A hotspot of gene order rearrangement by tandem duplication and random loss in the vertebrate mitochondrial genome.

Most reported examples of change in vertebrate mitochondrial (mt) gene order could be explained by a tandem duplication followed by random loss of redundant genes (tandem duplication-random loss [TDRL] model). Under this model of evolution, independent loss of genes arising from a single duplication in an ancestral species are predicted, and remnant pseudogenes expected, intermediate states that may remain in rearranged genomes. However, evidence for this is rare and largely scattered across vertebrate lineages. Here, we report new derived mt gene orders in the vertebrate "WANCY" region of four closely related caecilian amphibians. The novel arrangements found in this genomic region (one of them is convergent with the derived arrangement of marsupials), presence of pseudogenes, and positions of intergenic spacers fully satisfy predictions from the TDRL model. Our results, together with comparative data for the available vertebrate complete mt genomes, provide further evidence that the WANCY genomic region is a hotspot for gene order rearrangements and support the view that TDRL is the dominant mechanism of gene order rearrangement in vertebrate mt genomes. Convergent gene rearrangements are not unlikely in hotspots of gene order rearrangement by TDRL.

Amphibians↗
PubMed2005

Externally measured condition versus internal organ mass in the caecilian Gegeneophis ramaswamii (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae).

The relationship between externally measured condition (mass x length(-3)) and the mass of internal major organs in the caecilian Gegeneophis ramaswamii is investigated, based on a collection of 67 specimens from three southern Indian localities in the early and mid-monsoon. Condition in juveniles (< 90 mm total length) is higher than in subadults (90-170 mm) and adults (> 170 mm). The relationship between condition and total length is consistent in subadults, but variable in adults, and these differences indicate that the delimitation of these ontogenetic stages has some biological meaning. Adult females have fat bodies which fluctuate in mass, but not in relation to their body size. On average, adult females have heavier fat bodies and lighter gut contents than adult males, but there are no significant differences between subadult males and females. Gravid females are predicted to have a notably greater condition. There is no consistent relationship between condition and any major internal organ, but there is some significant variation among samples grouped by sampling time and locality. More sampling throughout the year is required to clarify the complex relationships between condition and internal organs, and before externally measured condition from ecological studies of living animals can be readily interpreted. However, its utility in helping to differentiate between ontogenic classes may be of immediate use.

Amphibians↗
PubMed2004

Local endemism within the Western Ghats-sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot.

The apparent biotic affinities between the mainland and the island in the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot have been interpreted as the result of frequent migrations during recent periods of low sea level. We show, using molecular phylogenies of two invertebrate and four vertebrate groups, that biotic interchange between these areas has been much more limited than hitherto assumed. Despite several extended periods of land connection during the past 500,000 years, Sri Lanka has maintained a fauna that is largely distinct from that of the Indian mainland. Future conservation programs for the subcontinent should take into account such patterns of local endemism at the finest scale at which they may occur.

Amphibians↗
PubMed2004

A subterranean generalist predator: diet of the soil-dwelling caecilian Gegeneophis ramaswamii (Amphibia; Gymnophiona; Caeciliidae) in southern India.

Biologists have paid relatively little attention to subterranean predators, especially their ecology. Although diets of some subterranean lower vertebrates suggest specialisation, there remains a lack of quantitative data. The diet of the caecilian amphibian Gegeneophis ramaswamii was investigated through analyses of gut contents of 67 specimens collected in randomised surveys at three localities in Kerala, southern India, in early and mid-monsoon. Although termites were the most frequently ingested items in the mid-monsoon, the specialist predator hypothesis was rejected because of differences in diet found in early monsoon samples, when earthworms contributed the greatest mass. That guts of some G. ramaswamii contained many individuals of only a single dietary taxon was interpreted as feeding on patchily distributed prey rather than specialisation. No ontogenetic differences in diet were apparent, but more sampling is required to investigate this further. Subadults largely feed on fewer items of the same prey as adults, though there is an indication that subadult diet is less diverse. The data do not support differences between male and female diet. High densities of G. ramaswamii, and perhaps of other terrestrial caecilians and subterranean lower vertebrates feeding on soil-ecosystem engineers (termites, earthworms and ants), might substantially impact soil ecology.

Amphibians↗
PubMed2004

Phylogeny of caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear RAG1.

We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial (mt) genome of five individual caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) representing five of the six recognized families: Rhinatrema bivittatum (Rhinatrematidae), Ichthyophis glutinosus (Ichthyophiidae), Uraeotyphlus cf. oxyurus (Uraeotyphlidae), Scolecomorphus vittatus (Scolecomorphidae), and Gegeneophis ramaswamii (Caeciliidae). The organization and size of these newly determined mitogenomes are similar to those previously reported for the caecilian Typhlonectes natans (Typhlonectidae), and for other vertebrates. Nucleotide sequences of the nuclear RAG1 gene were also determined for these six species of caecilians, and the salamander Mertensiella luschani atifi. RAG1 (both at the amino acid and nucleotide level) shows slower rates of evolution than almost all mt protein-coding genes (at the amino acid level). The new mt and nuclear sequences were compared with data for other amphibians and subjected to separate and combined phylogenetic analyses (Maximum Parsimony, Minimum Evolution, Maximum Likelihood, and Bayesian Inference). All analyses strongly support the monophyly of the three amphibian Orders. The Batrachia hypothesis (Gymnophiona, (Anura, Caudata) receives moderate or good support depending on the method of analysis. Within Gymnophiona, the optimal tree (Rhinatrema, (Ichthyophis, Uraeotyphlus), (Scolecomorphus, (Gegeneophis Typhlonectes) agrees with the most recent morphological and molecular studies. The sister group relationship between Rhinatrematidae and all other caecilians, that between Ichthyophiidae and Uraeotyphlidae, and the monophyly of the higher caecilians Scolecomorphidae+Caeciliidae+Typhlonectidae, are strongly supported, whereas the relationships among the higher caecilians are less unambiguously resolved. Analysis of RAG1 is affected by a spurious local rooting problem and associated low support that is ameliorated when outgroups are excluded. Comparisons of trees using the non-parametric Templeton, Kishino-Hasegawa, Approximately Unbiased, and Shimodaira-Hasegawa tests suggest that the latter may be too conservative.

Amphibians↗
PubMed2003

Scale microornamentation of uropeltid snakes.

Microornamentation was examined on the exposed oberhautchen surface of dorsal, lateral, and ventral scales from the midbody region of 20 species of the fossorial snake family Uropeltidae and seven species of fossorial scolecophidian and anilioid outgroups. No substantial variation was observed in microornamentation from the different areas around the midbody circumference within species. All oberhautchen cells were flat and exhibited no major surface features other than occasional posterior margin denticulations, small pores/pits, and narrow, low ridges. This is largely consistent with the hypothesis that friction reduction and dirt shedding are the main selective pressures on microornamentation, given that reducing shine is not of key importance in fossorial animals. Variations among taxa were observed in the shape and size of oberhautchen cells, in the presence of pores/pits, in the presence and size of denticulations on posterior cell margins, and in the level or imbricate nature of cell borders. Six microornamentation characters were formulated, scored, and plotted onto a selected phylogeny. Character evolution and phylogenetic signal were explored, accepting the incomplete understanding of intraspecific variation and of uropeltid interrelationships. There is evidence that all but one of these characters evolved homoplastically, probably by multiple independent origin. There is no clear evidence for character state reversal, but greater phylogenetic resolution is required to test this further. Phylogenetic signal appears to exist in some instances, including possible microornamentation synapomorphies for Uropeltidae and Melanophidium. These derived character states are found elsewhere within Squamata. A microornamentation of narrow, finely, and regularly spaced ridges is associated with scale iridescence. These ridges, and possibly pores/pits, are also associated with scales that are less wettable, and that therefore might be expected to be better at shedding dirt in moist conditions. Testable hypotheses are presented that might explain minor variations in the form of ridges and pits among uropeltids.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Intraorganismal homology, character construction, and the phylogeny of aetosaurian archosaurs (reptilia, diapsida).

Character construction, the methods by which characters and character states are produced from observations of variation, is a crucial but poorly understood step in phylogenetic analysis. Alternative approaches are used in practice, but there has been relatively little investigation of their theoretical bases and analytical consequences. We reviewed three published numerical analyses of the phylogenetic relationships within the Triassic Aetosauria. Combined data from these studies were used to explore the impact of alternative approaches to character construction. Some previous aetosaurian characters represent parallel variations in the morphology of osteoderms from different body regions, and their independence is questionable, leading us to propose more composite alternative constructions. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that inferred relationships within the Aetosauria are in general poorly resolved and weakly supported by the available data and are sensitive to alternative approaches to character construction. Thus, the results from this and previous studies should not, for the most part, be accepted as robust hypotheses of aetosaurian interrelationships. The treatment of systems of intraorganismal (e.g. serial, antimeric) homologues, such as osteoderms, in character construction is discussed. Applied to parallel variations in systems of intraorganismal homologues, previous advice on choosing among alternative character constructions and Hennig's auxiliary principle agree in favoring a more composite approach, in accordance with common practice.

Alligators and Crocodiles↗
PubMed2002

A molecular phylogeny of ichthyophiid caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae): out of India or out of South East Asia?

Recent molecular phylogenetic studies indicate that the rafting Indian plate harboured several isolated vertebrate lineages between ca. 130 and 56 Myr ago that dispersed and diversified 'out of India' following accretion with Eurasia. A single family of the amphibian order Gymnophiona, the Ichthyophiidae, presently occurs on the Indian plate and across much of South East Asia. Ichthyophiid phylogeny is investigated in order to test competing out of India and out of South East Asia hypotheses for their distribution. Partial sequences of mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA and cytochrome b genes for 20 ichthyophiids and proximate outgroups were assembled. Parsimony, maximum-likelihood and distance analyses all recover optimum trees in which uraeotyphlids plus Ichthyophis cf. malabarensis are the sister taxa to all other Ichthyophis, among which the South East Asian taxa are monophyletic. Tree topology and branch lengths indicate that the Indian lineages are more basal and older, and thus are more consistent with the hypothesis that ichthyophiids dispersed from the Indian subcontinent into South East Asia. The estimated relationships also support monophyly of Sri Lankan Ichthyophis, and non-monophyly of striped and unstriped Ichthyophis species groups. Mitochondrial DNA sequences provide evidence that should assist current problematic areas of caecilian taxonomy.

Amphibians↗