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Recognizing species-level diversity is important for studying evolutionary patterns across biological disciplines and is critical for conservation efforts. However, challenges remain in delimiting species-level diversity, especially in cryptic radiations where species are genetically divergent but show little morphological differentiation. Using multilocus molecular data, phylogenetic analyses, species delimitation analyses, and morphological data, we examine lineage diversification in a cryptic radiation of Riopa skinks in Myanmar. Four species of Riopa skinks are currently recognized from Myanmar based on morphological traits, but the boundaries between three of these species, R. anguina, R. lineolata, and R. popae, are not well-defined. We find high levels of genetic diversity within these three species. Our analyses suggest that they may comprise as many as 12 independently evolving lineages, highlighting the extent to which species diversity in the region is underestimated. However, quantitative trait data suggest that these lineages have not differentiated morphologically, possibly indicating that this cryptic radiation represents non-adaptive evolution, although additional data is needed to corroborate this., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The aridification of Africa resulted in the fragmentation of forests and the expansion of an arid corridor stretching from the northeast to southwest portion of sub-Saharan Africa, but the role this corridor has had in species-level diversification of southern African vertebrates is poorly understood. The skink species Mochlus afer and M. sundevallii inhabit wide areas of the arid corridor and are therefore an ideal species pair for studying patterns of genetic and phenotypic diversity associated with this landscape. However, species boundaries between these taxa have been controversial. Using multi-locus molecular and morphological datasets, we investigate diversification patterns of the M. afer-sundevallii Species Complex across the arid corridor. Although analyses of genetic data reveals some genetic structure among geographic populations, results of phylogenetic and morphological analyses provide little support for two distinct evolutionary lineages, suggesting that populations previously referred to as M. afer and M. sundevallii represent a single species, Mochlus sundevallii. Genetic diversity is unequally distributed across the arid corridor, with observed patterns consistent with aridification-facilitated diversification southward across southern Africa. Additional geographic and population-level sampling is necessary before more conclusive inferences can be drawn about the role historical climate transitions have played in skink diversification patterns across southern Africa., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)