Many processes of biological diversification can simultaneously affect multiple evolu- tionary lineages. Examples include multiple members of a gene family diverging when a region of a chromosome is duplicated, multiple viral strains diverging at a “super- spreading” event, and a geological event fragmenting whole communities of species. It is difficult to test for patterns of shared divergences predicted by such processes because...

Despite multiple recent field studies, herpetological species diversity of the Romblon Island Group in the central Phil- ippines—particularly Sibuyan Island—has remained underestimated. Recently, we investigated the diversity of the herpetofauna of Mount Guiting-Guiting Natural Park, based on an elevational transect (10–1557 m a.s.l.). Our surveys resulted in a total of 47 species of amphibians and reptiles, including 14 new island records and...

We revisit the question of species diversity among Mindanao Fanged Frogs of the Limnonectes magnus complex consisting of L. magnus, L. diuatus, L. ferneri, and a previously hypothesized putative new species, inferred in the first molecular phylogenetic studies of the genus almost 2 decades ago. Using a multilocus molecular deoxyribonucleic acid sequence data set and comprehensive sampling of 161 individuals from throughout...

Recent higher level phylogenetic analyses of gekkonid lizards of the genus Lepidodactylus uncovered an array of unrecognized species diversity, particularly within the Philippine archipelago. Novel phylogenetic analyses of multilocus data sets suggest that as many as five, previously undescribed, species-level lineages of Scaly-toed Geckos occur in just the northern portions of the archipelago. Here, we evaluate Lepidodactylus species diversity in the Lepidodactylus...

The Philippine archipelago is an exceptionally biodiverse region that includes at least 112 species of land snakes from 41 genera and 12 families. Recently, Cyclocoridae (formerly Lamprophiidae: Cyclocorinae) was proposed as a distinct, Philippine-endemic family, containing four genera: Cyclocorus, Hologerrhum, Myersophis, and Oxyrhabdium. Here, we describe an additional cyclocorid genus and species, Levitonius mirus, new genus and species, from Samar and Leyte...

Cameron Siler was recently featured in a US Fish and Wildlife News article entitled “The Sound of Silence” about the rampant illegal trafficking of Philippine monitor lizards for the US pet trade (pgs. 18–21). The publication also features other articles about herpetological trafficking, in groups such as poison frogs and turtles. Download the full Winter 2021 news release. View or subscribe to...

The diversity of Philippine amphibians and reptiles has increased over the last few decades, in part due to re-evaluation of species formerly believed to be widespread. Many of these investigations of widespread species have uncovered multiple closely related cryptic lineages comprising species complexes, each restricted to individual Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complexes (PAICs). One group in particular for which widespread cryptic diversity has...

Evolutionary reversals, including re-evolution of lost structures, are commonly found in phylogenetic studies. However, we lack an understanding of how these reversals happen mechanistically. A snake-like body form has evolved many times in vertebrates, and occasionally a quadrupedal form has re-evolved, including in Brachymeles lizards. We use body form and locomotion data for species ranging from snake-like to quadrupedal to address how...

Philippine False Geckos (genus Pseudogekko) are secretive, delicate, slender-bodied, arboreal members of an obligate forest specialist clade that is substantially more species diverse than previously assumed. Over the last century, few species were added to this Philippine endemic genus. During the last decade, however, revisionary studies have resulted in the recognition of six new species. Several of these appear to be rare,...

We report on the first molecular estimates of phylogenetic relationships of Brachymeles dalawangdaliri (Scincidae) and Pseudogekko isapa (Gekkonidae), and present new data on phenotypic variation in these two poorly known taxa, endemic to the Romblon Island Group of the central Philippines. Because both species were recently described on the basis of few, relatively older, museum specimens collected in the early 1970s (when...

We describe a new species of frog of the genus Platymantis Günther (subgenus Tirahanulap), from the east-central regions of the Philippines. It belongs to the the previously-defined P. hazelae Group) based on morphological and bioacoustic datasets. The new species is phenotypically and ecologically most similar to members of Tirahanulap, an assemblage of small-bodied arboreal frogs inhabiting montane forests of the central and...