Cryptic diversity in disjunct populations of Middle American Montane Pitvipers: A systematic reassessment of Cerrophidion godmani

Abstract

The discovery and taxonomic recognition of cryptic species has become increasingly frequent with the application of molecular phylogenetic analyses, particularly for species with broad geographic distributions. In this study we focus on the venomous pitviper species Cerrophidion godmani that is widely distributed throughout the highlands of Central America. We provide evidence based on both molecular phylogenetic analyses and morphological data that C. godmani represents three deeply divergent lineages and is possibly non-monophyletic. These three lineages are relatively conserved in their morphology and tend to be highly variable among individuals, but we do find sufficient morphological characters to diagnose them as evolutionarily distinct. We apply these data, together with known geographic distributions of populations, to infer boundaries of these three divergent evolutionary lineages. Based on the body of evidence, we formally name and describe two new species of Cerrophidion and redescribe C. godmani sensu stricto. © 2012 The Authors. Zoologica Scripta © 2012 The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.