Phylogeography of the Peninsula Crowned Snake (Tantilla relicta relicta) on the Lake Wales Ridge in Central Florida
Concordant phylogeographic patterns among species indicate similar ecological and/or evolutionary histories. A concordant phylogeographic pattern exists among two fossorial skinks inhabiting Florida scrub habitat on the Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida. We evaluate whether the Peninsula Crowned Snake (Tantilla relicta relicta), a fossorial species similarly adapted to xeric upland habitats in central Florida, follows the same phylogeographic pattern. We collected 51 Peninsula Crowned Snakes from 13 sites on the Lake Wales Ridge. The sites spanned Josephine Creek, a location identified as a potential phylogeographic break-point for the species studied previously. We screened the genetic variation of a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene and the mitochondrial control region. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Peninsula Crowned Snake has central and southern groups, which is similar, yet not identical, to other reptiles on the Lake Wales Ridge. Tests of differentiation detected population structure among three Peninsula Crowned Snake populations within 10 km of Archbold Biological Station. Our results support the presence of at least two major phylogeographic segments for scrub reptiles on the Lake Wales Ridge and suggest that the Peninsula Crowned Snake may have a genetic population structure, even in connected habitats.Abstract
Entire distribution of the Peninsula Crowned Snake (gray; Florida USA) with a star designating the general sampling region on the Lake Wales Ridge (black box) and a wavy line indicating Josephine Creek. The inset shows specific sampling locations within Highlands County, Florida. Open circles indicate sites at Archbold Biological Station. Abbreviated sample labels are Highlands Hammock State Park (HHSP), Henscratch-27 (HEN27), Henscratch Main (HENM), Royce Ranch (RR), Lake June in Winter State Park (LJWSP), Holmes Avenue (HA), Lake Placid Scrub (LPS), and Archbold Biological Station (ABS) sites SSr1n, SSr1s, SSr55, SSr91, and SH. The phylogeographic break between the central and southern Lake Wales Ridge populations at Josephine Creek is indicated by a straight, solid line for the Peninsula Crowned Snake, a dashed line for the Florida Sand Skink and Blue-tailed Mole Skink, and a dotted line for the Florida Scrub Lizard (no locations closer to Josephine Creek were investigated).
A maximum likelihood tree of (A) a 242-bp portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene, and (B) a 400-bp portion of the mitochondrial control region for the Peninsula Crowned Snake. The bootstrap consensus tree is presented with nodes greater than 50% bootstrap support identified. The geographic origin of each haplotype is provided and site abbreviations are defined in the text.
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