Species tree phylogenetics of
a clade of Cuban Anoles
Seth Rudman
Introduction to Anolis
Anolis sagrei, one of Cuba's most common species; Anolis vermiculatus, an aquatic
species from western Cuba; Anolis barbatus, a strange Cuban species that feeds on
snails; Anolis allisoni, another Cuban species; Anolis bartschi, a spectacular rockdweller that lacks a dewlap; Anolis distichus, from Hispaniola; Anolis aliniger, a montane
species from Hispaniola (center).
Introduction to Anolis
Anolis sagrei, one of Cuba's most common species; Anolis vermiculatus, an aquatic
species from western Cuba; Anolis barbatus, a strange Cuban species that feeds on
snails; Anolis allisoni, another Cuban species; Anolis bartschi, a spectacular rockdweller that lacks a dewlap; Anolis distichus, from Hispaniola; Anolis aliniger, a montane
species from Hispaniola (center).
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Ecomorphs
Anolis sagrei
Phylogenetics basics: a quick
review
Making a Gene Tree
1) Collect tissue
2) Extract DNA
and Sequence 1
mtDNA marker
and 2 common
nDNA markers
3) Align sequences and make a tree
Difficulties of Phylogenetics
Conflicting gene histories
Gene A reconstructs this topology
Gene B reconstructs this topology
Difficulties of Phylogenetics
Short distances between nodes
Problems encountered by my early
trees…
Species Trees
• Helpful to imagine a gene tree as a tree
contained within the true phylogeny.
• Think of a species tree as an aggregate of
all gene trees.
What I’m doing now
• Re-sample characters to form smaller
datasets and determine the importance of
sampling many nuclear loci.