Morphometric divergence between Bothrops atrox and Bothrops asper (Serpentes: Viperidae)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.acbi.329496Keywords:
multivariate morphometrics,, multiple group principal components analysis, Bothrops atrox, Bothrops asper, allometry, size, size-free variationAbstract
In order to analyze the divergence resulting from genetic variation, traditional morphometrics was used to quantify the differences in morphological variation between Bothrops atrox and Bothrops asper, which are poorly defined and controversial taxa. Five distances among homologous anatomical points from head and body were measured on twelve females and sixteen males of B. atrox, and nineteen females and eleven males of B. asper. Morphometric variation was partitioned by multiple group principal components analysis (mgPCA). Most of the variation was within taxa, and it was accounted by the first principal component (mgPC-1), which was taken as representing the growth. Orthogonal projection of individuals onto mgPC-1 yielded residuals which were interpreted as representing size-free variation, since by construction they are free of allometry within group. Those residuals were used for discriminant analysis, taken the first canonical factor, derived from it, like the best size-free variation estimate. Moreover, discriminant analyses were used to evaluate the capacity of morphometrics to reclassify the individuals in their groups.
The analyses showed significant differences of size and size-free variation between B. atrox and B. asper, in both sexes. Because the mgPCA allowed to analyze the allometry-free variation, we could assign to the genetic variance a significant part of the total phenotypic variance. This suggests an important level of genetic divergence among both biological entities.However, the discrimination between B. asper and B. atrox was not total. A low but significant level of individuals could not be assigned to either taxon. More insight into taxonomic status of both groups can be gained by using additional analytic tools like those of the geometric morphometrics.
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