| evolution of rattlesnakes (viperidae; crotalus) in the warm deserts of western north america shaped by neogene vicariance and quaternary climate change. | during pleistocene, the laurentide ice sheet rearranged and diversified biotic distributions in eastern north america, yet had minimal physical impact in western north america where lineage diversification is instead hypothesized to result from climatic changes. if pleistocene climatic fluctuations impacted desert species, the latter would reflect patterns of restricted gene flow concomitant with indications of demographic bottlenecks. accordingly, molecular evidence for refugia should be presen ... | 2006 | 16968275 |