There has been some recent discussion on this forum about why some genera have huge numbers of species and what even constitutes a species. Some iNat users may have come across the concept of a “ ring species ”. This is the paradoxical situation where each population within a distribution can breed w…

Your described method also works to find interesting outliers, which may be valid waifs, or (usually) a good candidate for quality control on observations–note the pink boxes in the Sierra Nevadas!

Yes. These types of maps can be a good way to spot outliers. In the case of the pink spots in the Sierras, I believe these are a recognized population of Ensatina eschscholtzii ssp. xanthoptica (Yellow-eyed Ensatina). It is thought that in cooler, wetter conditions, the range of this subspecies str…

Very interesting! I wonder if this points to a more recent continous wetland habitat that only recently closed up between SF Bay and that region. Tulare Lake springs to mind, the northern border may be about right for this, it’d be interesting to do an overlay if possible.

[image] rupertclayton: I believe these are a recognized population of Ensatina eschscholtzii ssp. xanthoptica (Yellow-eyed Ensatina) I remember finding a member of that population - totally thought it would have been a different subspecies as xanthoptica is the subspecies in my county. Defini…

There were some interesting conclusions from mitochondrial DNA research on Bay Area Ensatinas published in 2009 by Sean Kuchta and Duncan Parks in David Wake’s lab at Berkeley (reference below). They showed that that there was a surprisingly high level of genetic diversity and the evolutionary relat…

Thank you, @rupertclayton . If you don’t mind, a couple of questions that are tangential to this interesting discussion: Are there instructions on how to use these tools? I’ve not come across that. looking at your Taxa Map, is there a way to put a calendar boundary on the observations? Thank you. …

[image] rupertclayton: KB Very interesting! Both content and the used techniques. Many thanks!

This is amazing, and a wonderful way to use these tools! Very cool and informative posts retracing one of the basics of amphibian genetics in iNat, I love it!

[image] charlescrussell: Are there instructions on how to use these tools? I’ve not come across that. Hi @charlescrussell . I don’t believe there’s any official documentation for these mapping tools. I think both of them were mentioned by iNat staff in passing in various discussions on this fo…

[image] rupertclayton: [image] charlescrussell: looking at your Taxa Map, is there a way to put a calendar boundary on the observations? As far as I know, it is possible to do this with the Compare tool but not the Taxa Map. You can use all the same search parameters that are available fo…

Using iNat maps to illustrate Ensatina as a ring species

Nature Talk

marina_gorbunova January 10, 2021, 10:46pm 24

As I remember Larus isn’t considered a ring genus anymore. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8454571_The_Herring_Gull_complex_is_not_a_ring_species

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Using iNat maps to illustrate Ensatina as a ring species

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