UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Biogeography

We are using molecular markers to reconstruct the population structure, demography and biogeographic history of various taxa, with a focus on reptiles and amphibians. For example, we determined that the green anole Anolis carolinensis is structured into 5 distinct populations that differ in their demographic trajectory. We also investigated the role of the Great Rift valley and of the Blue Nile Valley in the diversification of highland taxa in frogs and in birds.

Systematics

Relevant publications

M. Lyra, S. Kirchhof, S. Goutte, A. Kassie and S. Boissinot (2023). Crossing the Rift Valley: using complete mitogenomes to infer the diversification and biogeographic history of Ethiopian highlands Ptychadena (Anura: Ptychadenidae). Frontiers in Genetics 14: 1215715.

A. Kassie, A. Bekele, B. Afework, S. Goutte and S. Boissinot (2023). Diversity, distribution and habitat association of anuran species from Keffa, southwest Ethiopia. Diversity 15: 300.

S. Goutte, J. Reyes-Velasco, A. Kassie and S. Boissinot (2022). Genetic and morphometric analysis of historical type specimens clarify the taxonomy of Ethiopian Leptopelis (Anura: Arthroleptidae). Zookeys 1128: 63-97.

J.D. Manthey, Y. Bourgeois, M. Yonas and S. Boissinot (2022). Varied diversification patterns and distinct demographic trajectories in Ethiopian montane forest bird (Aves: Passeriformes) populations separated by the Great Rift Valley. Molecular Ecology 31: 2664-2678.

S. Kirchhof, M.L. Lyra, A. Rodriguez, I. Ineich, J. Muller, M.-O. Roedel, J.-F. Trape, M. Vences and S. Boissinot (2021). Mitogenome analyses elucidate the evolutionary relationships of a probable Eocene wet tropics relic in the xerophilic lizard genus Acanthodactylus. Scientific Reports 11: 4858.

 J. Reyes-Velasco, S. Goutte, X. Freilich and S. Boissinot (2021). Mitogenomics of historical type specimens clarifies the taxonomy of Ethiopian Ptychadena Boulenger 1917 (Anura, Ptychadenidae). Zookeys 1070: 135.

S. Goutte, J. Reyes-Velasco, X. Freilich, A. Kassie and S. Boissinot (2021). Taxonomic revision of grass frogs (Ptychadenidae, Ptychadena) endemic to the Ethiopian highlands. Zookeys 1016: 77-141.

Y. Bourgeois, R.P. Ruggiero, J.D. Manthey and S. Boissinot (2019). Recent secondary contacts, background selection and variable recombination rates shape genomic diversity in the model species Anolis carolinensis. Genome Biology and Evolution 11(7): 2009-2022.  

 S. Goutte, J. Reyes-Velasco and S. Boissinot (2019). A new species of puddle frog (Anura; Phrynobatrachidae; Phrynobatrachus) from an unexplored mountain in southwestern Ethiopia. Zookeys 824: 53-70.

J. Reyes-Velasco, J.D. Manthey, X. Freilich and S. Boissinot (2018). Diversification of African tree frogs (genus Leptopelis)  in the highlands of Ethiopia. Molecular Ecology 27: 2256-2270.

J. Reyes-Velasco, J.D. Manthey, Y. Bourgeois, X. Freilich and S. Boissinot (2018). Revisiting The Phylogeography, Demography and Taxonomy of The Frog Genus Ptychadena in The Ethiopian Highlands With The Use Of Genome-Wide SNP Data. PLoS One 13(2): e0190440.  

I. Roman, Y. Bourgeois, J. Reyes-Velasco, O.P. Jensen, J. Waldman and S. Boissinot (2018). Contrasted patterns of divergence and gene flow among fish species in a Mongolian rift lake following glaciation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125(1): 115-125.

J.D. Manthey, J. Reyes-Velasco, X. Freilich and S. Boissinot (2017). Diversification in a biodiversity hospot: genomic variation and population history in the river frog Amietia nutti across the Ethiopian Highlands. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 122: 801-813.

J. Manthey, M.Tollis, A. Lemmon, E. Moriarty Lemmon, S. Boissinot (2016). Diversification in wild populations of the model organism Anolis carolinensis: a genome-wide phylogeographic investigation. Ecology and Evolution 6: 8115-8125.

X. Freilich, J. Anadon, J. Bukala, O. Calderon, R. Chakraborty, Evolutionary Genetics – class of 2013, and S. Boissinot (2016). Comparative phylogeography of Ethiopian anurans: impact of the Great Rift Valley and Pleistocene climate change. BMC Evolutionary Biology 16: 206.

M. Tollis and S. Boissinot (2014). Genetic variation in the green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis) reveals island refugia and a fragmented Florida during the quaternary. Genetica 142: 59-72.

S. Boissinot, L. Alvarez, J. Giraldo-Ramirez and M. Tollis (2014). Neutral nuclear variation in baboons (genus Papio) provides insights into their evolutionary and demographic histories. Am. J. of Physical Anthropology 155: 621-634.

X. Freilich, M. Tollis and S. Boissinot (2014). Hiding in the highlands: evolution of a frog species complex of the genus Ptychadena in the Ethiopian highlands. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 71: 157-169.

M. Tollis, G. Ausubel, D. Ghmire and S. Boissinot (2012). Multi-locus Phylogeographic and Population Genetic Analysis of Anolis carolinensis: Historical Demography of a Genomic Model Species. PLoS ONE 7: e38474.

S. Boissinot and P. Boursot (1997). Discordant phylogeographic patterns between the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA in the house mouse: selection on the Y chromosome?. Genetics 46: 1019-1034 

A. Orth, E. Lyapunova, A. Kandaurov, S. Boissinot, P. Boursot, N. Vorontsov and F. Bonhomme (1996). The polytypic species Mus musculus in Transcaucasia. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Serie III, 319: 435-441.