DIVERSIFICATION ON CONTINENTS AND ISLANDS: A HERPETOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to understand the geological and climatological processes that have promoted diversification on continental and island systems. Using molecular genetic data generated using Sanger sequencing and Next Generation Sequencing platforms, I conduct phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses, estimate gene flow, and conduct species delimitation. Using these analyses, I explore diversification processes on continents and islands using reptile and amphibian systems. In Chapter 2 I evaluate the role of geographical features to whipsnake diversification. Chapter 3 resolves the taxonomy of several poorly understood whipsnakes species and tests the effect of missing data on species delimitation. Chapter 4 investigates the biogeographical processes acting on parachuting frog diversification on the Sunda Shelf, specifically by quantifying the roles of within and between island diversification. Finally, Chapter 5 focuses on the processes that promoted in situ diversification on the island of Sumatra. I found that allopatric diversification is the predominant mode of diversification in whipsnakes and parachuting frogs, and that parachuting frogs diversified via in situ diversification on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.