The taxonomic status and biogeography of the North American Raphia species is reviewed using adult morphology, larval host plants, geographic phenotypic variation, and variation of mtDNA COI barcode sequences. Lack of diagnostic morphological differences, combined with relatively low mtDNA barcode divergences and clinal phenotypic variation in key geographic regions indicate that the six previo...

Blood genetic and antropometric data on Melanesians from Bougainville, Papus New Guinea, are analyzed by random-effects analysis of variance to partition the observed variation into components for the individuals, village, and language group level. Both clinial and unpatterned group differences exist. The differences between language groups appear to be substantial, even when the results are co...

Genetic admixture of distinct gene pools is the consequence of complex spatiotemporal processes that could have involved massive migration and local mating during the history of a species. However, current methods for estimating individual admixture proportions lack the incorporation of such a piece of information. Here, we extend Bayesian clustering algorithms by including global trend surface...

Clines in phenotypes and genotype frequencies across environmental gradients are commonly taken as evidence for spatially varying selection. Classical examples include the latitudinal clines in various species of Drosophila, which often occur in parallel fashion on multiple continents. Today, genomewide analysis of such clinal systems provides a fantastic opportunity for unravelling the genetic...

Leptomicrurus renjifoi is described from tropical semi-deciduous forest of the eastern Colombian Ilanos. It is one of the smallest species in the genus, is most similar to L. scutiventris, and it may be distinguished from known congeners by a combination of color, pattern, and scale characters. Evidence for the recognition of Leptomicrurus is convincing, although its members were recently thoug...

Characterization of morphological variation in the shells of extant Eastern Box Turtles, Terrapene carolina, provides a baseline for comparison to fossil populations. It also provides an example of the difficulties inherent to recognizing intraspecific diversity in the fossil record. The degree to which variation in fossils of T. carolina can be accommodated by extant variation in the species h...