Eric Smith
University of Texas at Arlington, Biology, Department Member
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sized terrestrial snake endemic to Mexico that has been reported from the states of Sonora (Lara-Resendiz et al., 2016), Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima (Ponce-Campos & Smith, 2001), and Michoacán (Suazo-Ortuño et al., 2014). Scant... more
sized terrestrial snake endemic to Mexico that has been reported from the states of Sonora (Lara-Resendiz et al., 2016), Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima (Ponce-Campos & Smith, 2001), and Michoacán (Suazo-Ortuño et al., 2014). Scant information on the habitat of the species is available, but it has been reported from thorn scrub, and tropical deciduous forests (Reyes-Velasco et al., 2009; Suazo-Ortuño et al., 2014) at elevations of 16 to 1589 m asl (Ponce-Campos, 2007). Here we report on the first records of C. lateritius from the state of Guerrero, Mexico, and the first report on its diet. A juvenile female Coniophanes lateritius (MZFC 32626) was collected at 19:15 h on 27 June 2004 near the San Antonio-Ciudad Altamirano highway, municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azueta, Guerrero, México (17.95809°N, -101.2261°W, WGS-84; 1600 m; Fig. 1) as it was active in the forest floor. The habitat was tropical semi-deciduous forest. The specimen measured 126 mm in snout–vent length (SVL) with a ...
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Reportamos la presencia de nuevas poblaciones de sapos arlequines pertenecientes a las especies Atelopuspalmatus y A. nepiozomus en las provincias de Pastaza y Loja respectivamente. Estos nuevos hallazgos permiten re-evaluar y corroborar... more
Reportamos la presencia de nuevas poblaciones de sapos arlequines pertenecientes a las especies Atelopuspalmatus y A. nepiozomus en las provincias de Pastaza y Loja respectivamente. Estos nuevos hallazgos permiten re-evaluar y corroborar el estado de conservación de estas especies. La información aquí reportada es una contribución al conocimiento del género Atelopus sobre el cual existe todavía importantes vacíos de información sobre su taxonomía, sistemática e historia natural.
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A new species of Dipsas Laurenti, 1768, from Central Panama is described based on molecular analyses, hemipenial morphology, and external characters. This is the sixth species of Dipsas to be described for the country; the snake has been... more
A new species of Dipsas Laurenti, 1768, from Central Panama is described based on molecular analyses, hemipenial morphology, and external characters. This is the sixth species of Dipsas to be described for the country; the snake has been suspected to exist since 1977 and has not been thoroughly studied until now. Additionally, morphological comparations including scale counts are done with other species within the genus, and the current geographic distribution of Dipsas temporalis (Werner, 1909), the sister species, is updated. Finally, a key to the species of Dipsas currently known from Middle America is presented.
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Research Interests: Geography and Humanities
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We conduct species delimitation of the widespread parachuting frog species Rhacophorus catamitus using samples from across the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. We use mitochondrial, genomic and morphological data, and find that R. catamitus... more
We conduct species delimitation of the widespread parachuting frog species Rhacophorus catamitus using samples from across the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. We use mitochondrial, genomic and morphological data, and find that R. catamitus is composed of three lineages corresponding to northern, central and southern lineages. Mitochondrial and genomic data show admixture or incomplete lineage sorting between the central and southern lineages, but deep divergence from the northern lineage. Coalescent species delimitation supports a three species model for this complex, and we recommend that the northern lineage be described as a new species. Our study highlights the power of coalescent species delimitation in an integrative framework for identifying unrecognised diversity in understudied tropical species complexes. We also emphasise the evolutionary importance of northern Sumatra, a region that harboured montane refugia during Pliocene–Pleistocene climate change, but has also been heav...
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GENUS <i>HUIA</i> YANG, 1991 (FIG. 6A) <i>Type species:</i> <i>Rana cavitympanum</i> Boulenger, 1893, <i>Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London</i>: 525. Holotype: BMNH 1893.5.30.26... more
GENUS <i>HUIA</i> YANG, 1991 (FIG. 6A) <i>Type species:</i> <i>Rana cavitympanum</i> Boulenger, 1893, <i>Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London</i>: 525. Holotype: BMNH 1893.5.30.26 (BMNH 1947.2.4.16); adult male). <i>Type locality:</i> Kina Baloo, North Borneo (Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia). Collector: A. Everett. <i>Common name:</i> Sabah Huia frog (English) following Frank & Ramus (1995) and Frost (2019); Kongkang Jeram Sabah (Bahasa Indonesia). <i>Phylogenetic definition and content: Huia</i> is a distinct and independently evolving genus, which shares a most recent common ancestor with the genus <i>Meristogenys</i> (Fig. 2). It is currently understood to be monotypic, containing <i>H. cavitympanum</i>, which is endemic to the island of Borneo. <i>Diagnosis:</i> (Tadpole characters presented here are based on observation by U.A., whereas morphological cha...
Nuclear SNP data associated with STACKS output (includes STRUCTURE and PHYLIP files used in multiple analyses). Both 25% and 50% missing individuals/SNP datasets are included
Research Interests: Heterozygosity and RADseq
Strong spatial sorting of genetic variation in contiguous populations is often explained by local adaptation or secondary contact following allopatric divergence. A third explanation, spatial sorting by stochastic effects of range... more
Strong spatial sorting of genetic variation in contiguous populations is often explained by local adaptation or secondary contact following allopatric divergence. A third explanation, spatial sorting by stochastic effects of range expansion, has been considered less often though theoretical models suggest it should be widespread, if ephemeral. In a study designed to delimit species within a clade of venomous coralsnakes, we identified an unusual pattern within the Texas coral snake (Micrurus tener): strong spatial sorting of divergent mitochondrial (mtDNA) lineages over a portion of its range, but weak sorting of these lineages elsewhere. We tested three alternative hypotheses to explain this pattern—local adaptation, secondary contact following allopatric divergence, and range expansion. Collectively, near panmixia of nuclear DNA, the signal of range expansion associated sampling drift, expansion origins in the Gulf Coast of Mexico, and species distribution modeling suggest that the spatial sorting of divergent mtDNA lineages within M. tener has resulted from genetic surfing of standing mtDNA variation—not local adaptation or allopatric divergence. Our findings highlight the potential for the stochastic effects of recent range expansion to mislead estimations of population divergence made from mtDNA, which may be exacerbated in systems with low vagility, ancestral mtDNA polymorphism, and male-biased dispersal
Research Interests: Heterozygosity and RADseq
Meristic and molecular data provide evidence for an exceptional multi-chromatic defensive strategy in an Indian coralsnake, Calliophis bibroni from the state of Kerala. We propose a mimcry hypothesis involving a combination of an... more
Meristic and molecular data provide evidence for an exceptional multi-chromatic defensive strategy in an Indian coralsnake, Calliophis bibroni from the state of Kerala. We propose a mimcry hypothesis involving a combination of an ontogenetic colour shift at maturity, from initial Mullerian mimicry with a subtropical Indian coralsnake Sinomicrurus macclellandii, to one of two very different adult dorsal colours: 1) an aposematic pattern resembling that of the sympatric tropical Indian coralsnake Calliophis castoe or 2) a cryptic dark brown colouration. This study briefly compares the rich body of work on mimicry in New World elapids to that of their Old World counterparts while addressing the hitherto unexplored yet exciting prospect of investigating mimicry, crypsis and aposematism in Old World coralsnakes.
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Supplementary material 1 from: Arifin U, Smart U, Hertwig ST, Smith EN, Iskandar DT, Haas A (2018) Molecular phylogenetic analysis of a taxonomically unstable ranid from Sumatra, Indonesia, reveals a new genus with gastromyzophorous tadpoles and two new species. Zoosystematics and Evolution 94(1)...more
Figure 3 from: Arifin U, Smart U, Hertwig ST, Smith EN, Iskandar DT, Haas A (2018) Molecular phylogenetic analysis of a taxonomically unstable ranid from Sumatra, Indonesia, reveals a new genus with gastromyzophorous tadpoles and two new species. Zoosystematics and Evolution 94(1): 163-193. https...more
Catastrophic events, such as volcanic eruptions, can have profound impacts on the demographic histories of resident taxa. Due to its presumed effect on biodiversity, the Pleistocene eruption of super-volcano Toba has received abundant... more
Catastrophic events, such as volcanic eruptions, can have profound impacts on the demographic histories of resident taxa. Due to its presumed effect on biodiversity, the Pleistocene eruption of super-volcano Toba has received abundant attention. We test the effects of the Toba eruption on the diversification, genetic diversity, and demography of three co-distributed species of parachuting frogs (Genus Rhacophorus) on Sumatra. We generate target-capture data (∼950 loci and ∼440,000 bp) for three species of parachuting frogs and use these data paired with previously generated double digest restriction-site associated DNA (ddRADseq) data to estimate population structure and genetic diversity, to test for population size changes using demographic modelling, and to estimate the temporal clustering of size change events using a full-likelihood Bayesian method. We find that populations around Toba exhibit reduced genetic diversity compared with southern populations, and that northern popul...
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IUCN Red List assessments are important for conservation and management initiatives. However, status assessments are often challenging because of poor sampling between biogeographical regions. Researchers sometimes assess poorly known... more
IUCN Red List assessments are important for conservation and management initiatives. However, status assessments are often challenging because of poor sampling between biogeographical regions. Researchers sometimes assess poorly known species, which can have unforeseen ramifications, including the trade of rare and cryptic species under common species names. Here, we address this issue in relation to economically important reptile species in Indonesia. We reviewed examples of single species categorized as Least Concern for which the assessments probably encompassed multiple closely related species. We also examined Red List assessments that utilized species distribution modelling techniques, and identified biogeography as a major barrier to using such methods. To test how biogeography may affect status assessments we used our own model lizard system from Indonesia, taking an integrative phylogeographical approach to quantify status assessments under contrasting scenarios. We show th...
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Lizards of the genus Dendragama are endemic to the highland cloud forests of Sumatra’s Barisan Mountain Range in western Indonesia, and recent studies have uncovered widespread diversity within the genus. Here, a suite of morphological... more
Lizards of the genus Dendragama are endemic to the highland cloud forests of Sumatra’s Barisan Mountain Range in western Indonesia, and recent studies have uncovered widespread diversity within the genus. Here, a suite of morphological characters and mitochondrial DNA are used to compare three geographically isolated populations of D. boulengeri from (1) Mount Kerinci in Jambi province, (2) Mount Marapi of west Sumatra, and (3) the Karo Highlands of north Sumatra. Additional phylogeographic analyses with two recently described sister species, D. australis and D. dioidema were conducted. Five genetically distinct clades of Dendragama, all distributed allopatrically of one another were identified and some are suspected to inhabit small distributions. Morphological and genetic data confirm the Karo Highlands population D. schneideri (previously Acanthosaura schneideri Ahl, 1926) should be revalidated from the synonymy of D. boulengeri. Dendragama schneideri is endemic to montane forest...
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Locality data used for SDM modelling
Research Interests: Heterozygosity and RADseq
Title: Discovery of highly divergent repeat landscapes in snake genomes
We describe a new species of coralsnake, Calliophis castoe, from western peninsular India. The discovery of this new species comes as a surprise because it is a venomous snake from both lowland and mountainous areas that are accessible... more
We describe a new species of coralsnake, Calliophis castoe, from western peninsular India. The discovery of this new species comes as a surprise because it is a venomous snake from both lowland and mountainous areas that are accessible and well populated. The new species differs from all other Calliophis, the Tropical Asian coralsnakes, in having unicolored and dark body and tail dorsa, an orange head band, a salmon color to scarlet body and tail underside, four maxillary teeth behind the fang (the highest number, except for some individuals of C. maculiceps) and, in having the prefrontals touching the third supralabial while having both a preocular and a nasal (except for some C. beddomei). Calliophis castoe also differs from all other Indian coralsnakes, with the exception of some Sinomicrurus macclellandi, in having an unpatterned body, no dark pigmentation on the last supralabial, and a wide post-temporal band. We also present mitochondrial DNA sequence differences between the n...
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The Greater Sunda region of South-east Asia supports a rich diversity of economically and ecologically important species. However, human pressures are reshaping contemporary biogeography across the region. Megafaunal distributional... more
The Greater Sunda region of South-east Asia supports a rich diversity of economically and ecologically important species. However, human pressures are reshaping contemporary biogeography across the region. Megafaunal distributional patterns have been particularly affected because of deforestation, poaching and human–wildlife conflict. Crocodilians are at the centre of these conflicts in Indonesia and yet remain poorly studied across much of the archipelago. We conducted population surveys of salt-water crocodiles Crocodylus porosus and false gharials Tomistoma schlegelii in Sumatra, and examined whether crocodile abundance and distribution are correlated with variations in human disturbance, fishing pressure, and habitat type. We then used these data to model remaining suitable habitat for T. schlegelii across South-east Asia. We found that abundance of T. schlegelii and C. porosus was correlated with distance from human settlements, and fish-trapping pressure. We recorded the prese...
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Complex geological processes often drive biotic diversification on islands. The islands of Sumatra and Java have experienced dramatic historical changes, including isolation by marine incursions followed by periodic connectivity with the... more
Complex geological processes often drive biotic diversification on islands. The islands of Sumatra and Java have experienced dramatic historical changes, including isolation by marine incursions followed by periodic connectivity with the rest of Sundaland across highland connections. To determine how this geological history influenced island invasions, we investigated the colonization history and diversification of bent-toed geckos (genus Cyrtodactylus) on Sumatra and west Java. We used mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data to explore species boundaries, estimate phylogenetic relationships and divergence times, and to reconstruct ancestral range evolution. We found that Sumatran and Javan Cyrtodactylus were closely related to species from the Thai-Malay Peninsula, rather than from Borneo, and that Cyrtodactylus most likely dispersed to Sumatra three times during the late Oligocene and early Miocene. Similarly, Cyrtodactylus invaded west Java from Sumatra once in the early Miocene. Our results suggest that despite isolation by marine incursions during much of the Miocene, Cyrtodactylus dispersed to and from Sumatra and west Java likely via land bridges, and that in situ diversification occurred several times on Sumatra.
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Cancer chiefly occurs in vertebrates. Rare in amphibians, and perhaps common in reptiles, various neoplasms and malignant cancers have been reported with erratic frequency by museums, paleontologists, veterinarians, and pet hobbyists.... more
Cancer chiefly occurs in vertebrates. Rare in amphibians, and perhaps common in reptiles, various neoplasms and malignant cancers have been reported with erratic frequency by museums, paleontologists, veterinarians, and pet hobbyists. Unsurprisingly, most herpetofaunal diversity has never been systematically surveyed for the presence of neoplasms owing to the extreme rarity or obscurity of many species. Museum collections can fill these gaps in knowledge, especially when researchers use non-destructive techniques. In this study, we used X-ray computed tomography to discover and characterize an osteosarcoma of the spine in a rare South American coralsnake, Micrurus ancoralis. Two spinal vertebrae were completely fused and adjacent vertebrae showed evidence of corruption. The fused vertebrae contained a hollow inner network thought to be vascular tissue. We also review previous reports of tumors in the Elapidae and all bony tumors in non-avian reptiles. The rarely reported technique o...
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Research Interests: Geography and Humanities
FIGURE 7. Morphometric and acoustic differentiation between Microhyla sriwijaya sp. nov. and M. orientalis. A. Plot of the first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) derived from a principal component analysis based on morphometric data... more
FIGURE 7. Morphometric and acoustic differentiation between Microhyla sriwijaya sp. nov. and M. orientalis. A. Plot of the first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) derived from a principal component analysis based on morphometric data (Tables 3, 5); B. Plot of the first two factor planes (PC1 and PC2) derived from a principal component analysis based on acoustic data (Tables 6, 7).
All in-text references underlined in blue are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately.
FIGURE 6. Comparisons of dorsal view of (A) M. montana (Syntype: RMNH.RENA 2212–A, (B) M. parallela (Paratype: MZB Amph 13048, formerly FMNH 264512), (C) M. monticola [reproduced from Günther (1864), plate XXVI figure H], and (D) M. parva... more
FIGURE 6. Comparisons of dorsal view of (A) M. montana (Syntype: RMNH.RENA 2212–A, (B) M. parallela (Paratype: MZB Amph 13048, formerly FMNH 264512), (C) M. monticola [reproduced from Günther (1864), plate XXVI figure H], and (D) M. parva [reproduced from Boulenger (1893), plate XI figure 2]. Red arrows added to show the parallel dorsolateral folds (A, B), or the Y-shaped folds from the parietoscapular region to the level of the axilla (C, D).
Background: Snakes provide a unique vertebrate system for studying a diversity of extreme adaptations, including those related to development, metabolism, physiology, and venom. Despite their importance as research models, genomic... more
Background: Snakes provide a unique vertebrate system for studying a diversity of extreme adaptations, including those related to development, metabolism, physiology, and venom. Despite their importance as research models, genomic resources for snakes are few. Among snakes, the Burmese python is the premier model for studying extremes of metabolic fluctuation and physiological remodelling. In this species, the consumption of large infrequent meals can induce a 40-fold increase in metabolic rate and more than a doubling in size of some organs. To provide a foundation for research utilizing the python, our aim was to assemble and annotate a transcriptome reference from the heart and liver. To accomplish this aim, we used the 454-FLX sequencing platform to collect sequence data from multiple cDNA libraries. Results: We collected nearly 1 million 454 sequence reads, and assembled these into 37,245 contigs with a combined length of 13,409,006 bp. To identify known genes, these contigs we...
We describe a new species of gymnophthalmid lizard, Oreosaurus bisbali sp. nov., from the Turimiquire Massif in northeastern Venezuela. It is one of three reptile species known to be endemic to the region and the fifth species of... more
We describe a new species of gymnophthalmid lizard, Oreosaurus bisbali sp. nov., from the Turimiquire Massif in northeastern Venezuela. It is one of three reptile species known to be endemic to the region and the fifth species of Oreosaurus from Venezuela. It can be distinguished from all congeners by a combination of rectangular dorsal scales at midbody, having two scales separating femoral pores medially, and lacking a nasoloreal suture. The new species is likely to be restricted in distribution to the highlands of the Turimiquire Massif, which have been significantly degraded by agriculture.
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Scott and McDiarmid (1984:2) stated that “Most early attempts to clarify the relationships of Trimorphodon have been misled by an inadequate description of the hemipenis...” Recently, the Trimorphodon biscutatus complex has received some... more
Scott and McDiarmid (1984:2) stated that “Most early attempts to clarify the relationships of Trimorphodon have been misled by an inadequate description of the hemipenis...” Recently, the Trimorphodon biscutatus complex has received some significant attention both in molecular and morphological analyses (Devitt 2006; Devitt et al. 2008) and much of its evolutionary history is becoming better understood. However, these recent studies have not included hemipenial morphology and earlier papers appear to provide inaccurate descriptions (e.g., Klauber 1940; Scott and McDiarmid 1984; Smith 1941). Cope (1895, 1900) dissected the tails of male Trimorphodon and noted that their hemipenes possessed calyces. This was later rejected by Scott and McDiarmid (1984) and although Savage (2002) stated that Trimorphodon possess calyces, he did not provide a reference or evidence for his statement. In this study we dissect, illustrate, and describe the hemipenis of one of the species in the Trimorphodo...