A preliminary analysis of phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of the dangerously venomous Carpet Vipers, Echis (Squamata, Serpentes, Viperidae) based on mitochondrial DNA sequences (original) (raw)
Related papers
Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 2009
We analyze the phylogeny of the medically important and taxonomically unresolved viper genus Echis using four mitochondrial gene fragments. The results show that the populations of the genus fall into four main clades: the Echis carinatus, E. coloratus, E. ocellatus and E. pyramidum groups. The E. pyramidum and E. coloratus groups are sister taxa but the interrelationships of this clade and the E. ocellatus and E. carinatus groups are unresolved. The initial divergence of the genus appears to coincide with the collision between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia, and that between the E. coloratus and E. pyramidum clades appears to be associated with the opening of the Red Sea. Later land connections between Africa and Arabia may have contributed to shaping the distribution of the E. pyramidum complex. The present distribution of E. carinatus may be the result of range expansion from southern India. Taxonomically, our results provide molecular evidence for the validity of Echis omanensis, E. kh...
Zoology in the Middle East, 2016
The Saw-scaled vipers of the species Echis carinatus range from Sri Lanka and India westwards to Iraq, including the eastern Arabian Peninsula. We collected the species in southern Iraq and compared two mtDNA genes (16S and Cyt b) with other populations of this species and with other species of the genus. Analyses of both Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference confirmed E. carinatus as a monophyletic species. The samples from Iraq cluster with populations of the species from Pakistan and UAE. Populations from India, however, are situated in a separate phylogenetic lineage. This can be explained by the geographic barriers between western (Iraq, Pakistan and UAE) and eastern (India) populations of the species. Soleyman Mountain in southern Pakistan is the main barrier between them and its role is reflected in the genetic distance between populations.
Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 2009
We analyze the phylogeny of the medically important and taxonomically unresolved viper genus Echis using four mitochondrial gene fragments. The results show that the populations of the genus fall into four main clades: the Echis carinatus, E. coloratus, E. ocellatus and E. pyramidum groups. The E. pyramidum and E. coloratus groups are sister taxa but the interrelationships of this clade and the E. ocellatus and E. carinatus groups are unresolved. The initial divergence of the genus appears to coincide with the collision between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia, and that between the E. coloratus and E. pyramidum clades appears to be associated with the opening of the Red Sea. Later land connections between Africa and Arabia may have contributed to shaping the distribution of the E. pyramidum complex. The present distribution of E. carinatus may be the result of range expansion from southern India. Taxonomically, our results provide molecular evidence for the validity of Echis omanensis, E. khosatzkii, E. borkini and E. jogeri, for the presence of unsuspected genetic diversity within the E. pyramidum complex in eastern Africa, and for the conspecificity of E. carinatus and E. multisquamatus. The status of E. leucogaster remains to be confirmed.
Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics, 2023
Saw scaled vipers of the genus Echis belong to the family Viperidae and subfamily Viperinae. These vipers are widely distributed from East Africa to Southwest and Central Asia. Echis bite is one of the major causes of mortality in the world. Different populations of these medically important snakes have different venom composition, and the relevant antivenom is highly species-specific. Echis has a complex taxonomic history. For many years, only two species were recognized (i.e., Echis coloratus and E. carinatus). Over the past 50 years, the number of species have been raised to 12, of which six species reside in the Middle East. Phylogenetic studies show that the genus Echis fall into four species groups: the E. carinatus, E. coloratus, E. ocellatus and E. pyramidum groups. Until recently, only E. carinatus in Southwest Asia and India and E. coloratus in Arabia were assigned to the Middle East. Several morphological and phylogenetic studies raised the number of Echis species in the Middle East from two to six. These Middle Eastern vipers belong to three different species groups. An Asian, an Arabian and an African group. Distribution and basal split of the genus Echis, likely have been shaped by vicariance and tectonic events, which have separated or connected the land masses. In this study, a brief review on biogeography, taxonomy and distribution of the genus especially in the Middle East is presented.
2009
In northwest Africa some species from Sahelian origin appear with relict populations and apparently isolated by the extreme aridity of the Sahara desert. However very tolerant to aridity species could maintain continuous populations as might be the case for Echis leucogaster as indicated by results from genetic analysis and bioclimatic models. Resum: Al nord-oest d'àfrica apareixen un grup d'espècies d'origen sahelià en poblacions relictes i aparentment aïllades pel desert del Sàhara. No obstant això espècies molt tolerants a l"aridesa podrien mantenir poblacions contínues, com podria ser el cas de Echis leucogaster segons indiquen els resultats de l'anàlisi genètica i els models bioclimàtics.
Recent advances in phylogeny and taxonomy of Near and Middle Eastern vipers–an update
2009
Th e number of recognized viper species in the Near and Middle East has been raised signifi cantly in the last 25 years (Table 1). While some smaller genera remained more or less stable, the genus Vipera has been subdivided into four genera on the basis of molecular genetic data. Of these genera, Daboia contains the former Vipera palaestinae and D. russelii, Macrovipera the species M. lebetina, M. schweizeri and an un-described, basal species from Iran, and Montivipera the former Vipera xanthina and V. raddei complexes. While the genetic diversity in the M. raddei complex is fairly low, it is high in the M. xanthina complex. Th is may give reason to synonymize several taxa in the M. raddei complex, while new taxa can be described in the Turkish M. xanthina complex. Th e number of known species in the Middle Eastern Saw-scaled vipers (genus Echis) must be raised from 2 to 6. Th ese species belong to 3 diff erent species complexes (an Asian, an African and an Arabian complex). A parti...
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2001
Nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b and 16S rRNA genes, totaling 946 bp, were used to reconstruct a molecular phylogeny of 42 species of the subfamily Viperinae representing 12 of the 13 recognized genera. Maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood were used as methods for phylogeny reconstruction with and without a posteriori weighting. When representatives of the Causinae were taken as outgroup, five major monophyletic groups were consistently identified: Bitis, Cerastes, Echis, the Atherini (Atheris s.l.), and the Eurasian viperines. Proatheris was affiliated with Atheris, and Adenorhinos clustered within Atheris. The African Bitis consisted of at least three monophyletic groups: i) the B. gabonica group, (ii) the B. caudalis group, and (iii) the B. cornuta group. B. worthingtoni and B. arietans are not included in any of these lineages. Eurasian viperines could be unambiguously devided into four monophyletic groups: (i) Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis, (ii) European vipers (Vipera s.str.), (iii) Middle East Macrovipera plus Montivipera (Vipera xanthina group), and (iv) North African Macrovipera plus Vipera palaestinae and Daboia russelii. These evolutionary lineages are consistent with historical biogeographical patterns. According to our analyses, the viperines originated in the Oligocene in Africa and successively underwent a first radiation leading to the five basal groups. The radiation might have been driven by the possession of an effective venom apparatus and a foraging startegy (sit-wait-strike) superior in most African biomes and might have been adaptive. The next diversifications led to the Proatheris-Atheris furcation, the basal Bitis splitting, and the emergence of the basal lineages within the Eurasian stock. Thereafter, lineages within Echis, Atheris, and Cerastes evolved. The emergence of three groups within Vipera s.l. might have been forced by the existence of three land masses during the early Miocene in the area of the Paratethys and the Med-iterranean Seas. Taxonomic consequences of these findings are discussed.
Molecular Phylogenetics of Saw-scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) from Pakistan
Pakistan Journal of Zoology, 2020
Authors' Contribution MRA, AN and ENS conceived and designed the project. MRA and PT conducted wet lab experiments. MRA, US, AN analyzed the result through bioinformatics software and tools. MJ helped to draft the manuscript. TY, ASH, MJ helped in discussion of results.
2020
The Arabian Horned Viper, <i>Cerastes gasperettii</i>, is distributed along the eastern edge of the Sinai Peninsula south and east across the Arabian Peninsula to Iraq, Kuwait and western Iran comprising two subspecies: <i>Cerastes. g. mendelssohni</i> in the Arava valley (Israel and Jordan) and <i>C. g. gasperettii</i> in the Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Iran. Phylogenetic relationships based on Maximum Likelihood, Bayesian Inference, haplotype networks, and genetic divergence among different populations of <i>C. gasperettii</i> are analysed in this study. Two mitochondrial (<i>12S</i> and <i>Cytb</i>) and two nuclear partial genes (<i>C-mos</i> and <i>MC1R</i>) with uneven distribution among the individuals were used to infer phylogenetic relationships. Bayesian inference (BI) phylogenetic tree indicates a dichotomy separating a southern (Oman, UAE, Yemen) from a northern clade (I...