Aim: To investigate cryptic diversity and diversification timing in the putatively low-dispersal Amazonian leaf-litter lizard Loxopholis osvaldoi, and to ask how geography (rivers, isolation by distance, IBD), ecological drivers (isolation by environment, IBE) and historical factors (climatic refugia) explain intraspecific genetic variation. Location: Central Amazonia, Brazil. Taxon: Squamata; Gymnophthalmidae; Loxopholis osvaldoi. Methods: We sequenced two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers in 157 individuals. Phylogeographic structure and the occurrence of independent evolving lineages where explored through...

In species that form dense populations, major disturbance events are expected to increase the chance of establishment for immigrant lineages. Real-time tests of the impact of disturbance on patterns of genetic structure are, however, scarce. Central to testing these concepts is determining the pool of potential immigrants dispersing into a disturbed area. In 2016, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred on the South Island of New Zealand. Affecting approximately 100 km of coastline, this quake caused...

We describe the use of the Fréchet mean and variance in the Billera-Holmes-Vogtmann (BHV) treespace to summarize and explore the diversity of a set of phylogenetic trees. We show that the Fréchet mean is comparable to other summary methods, and, despite its stickiness property, is more likely to be binary than the majority-rules consensus tree. We show that the Fréchet variance is faster and more precise than commonly used variance measures. The Fréchet mean and...