Genome wide shotgun sequencing of uropeltid snakes from historical museum collections

Uropeltidae is a clade of small fossorial snakes (ca. 60 extant species) endemic to peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Uropeltid taxonomy has been confusing, and the status of some species has not been revised for over a century. Attempts to revise uropeltid systematics and undertake evolutionary studies have been hampered by incompletely sampled and resolved phylogenies. To address this issue, we take advantage of historical museum collections, including type specimens, and apply genome-wide shotgun (GWS) sequencing, along with recent field sampling (using Sanger sequencing) to establish a near-complete multilocus species-level phylogeny. Our study highlights the benefits of integrating museum collections in molecular genetic analyses and their role in understanding the systematics and evolutionary history of understudied organismal groups.