| habitat predictors of genetic diversity for two sympatric wetland-breeding amphibian species. | population genetic diversity is widely accepted as important to the conservation and management of wildlife. however, habitat features may differentially affect evolutionary processes that facilitate population genetic diversity among sympatric species. we measured genetic diversity for two pond-breeding amphibian species (dwarf salamanders, eurycea quadridigitata; and southern leopard frogs, lithobates sphenocephalus) to understand how habitat characteristics and spatial scale affect genetic di ... | 2017 | 28861231 |
| digits lost or gained? evidence for pedal evolution in the dwarf salamander complex (eurycea, plethodontidae). | change in digit number, particularly digit loss, has occurred repeatedly over the evolutionary history of tetrapods. although digit loss has been documented among distantly related species of salamanders, it is relatively uncommon in this amphibian order. for example, reduction from five to four toes appears to have evolved just three times in the morphologically and ecologically diverse family plethodontidae. here we report a molecular phylogenetic analysis for one of these four-toed lineages-- ... | 2012 | 22649536 |