Data from: A phylogeographic, demographic and historical analysis of the short-tailed pit viper (Gloydius brevicaudus): evidence for early divergence and late expansion during the Pleistocene

The impact of quaternary glaciation in eastern China on local fanua and flora has been a topic of considerable interest. We used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data and coalescent simulations to test two general biogeographic hypothesis related to the effects of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations for a widespread ophidian species (Gloydius brevicaudus) in eastern China and Korean Peninsula. The phylogenetic analysis revealed three major lineages, the southeast Coastal, Yangtze and North Lineages. The latter two are closely related and jointly form a continental lineage. Divergence dating and coalescent simulations indicate a Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene divergence between lineages from the southeast coast and continental interior, followed by a mid-to-late Pleistocene divergence between lineages from the north and the middle–lower Yangtze Valley across East China, suggesting that all these lineages predated the last glacial maximum. An overlapping range between the two lineages within the continental lineage and a secondary contact associated with ecological transition zones on the margins of the North China Plain were also observed. These results show that vicariance patterns dominated the history of G. brevicaudus. Though the climatic events of the Pleistocene have had a marked effect on the historical distribution and intra-specific divergence of reptiles in China, coalescent and non-coalescent demographic analyses indicate that all lineages of G. brevicaudus seem not to have been adversely affected by glacial cycles during the Late Pleistocene, presumably because of an increase in the amount of climatically mild habitat in East Asia due to a decline in elevation and the development of monsoons since the Mid-End Pleistocene.

中国东部第四纪冰川对当地动植物区系的影响一直是广受关注的研究课题。本研究采用线粒体DNA（mitochondrial DNA, mtDNA）序列数据与溯祖模拟（coalescent simulations），针对中国东部及朝鲜半岛广泛分布的蛇类物种短尾蝮（Gloydius brevicaudus），检验与更新世气候波动效应相关的两项通用生物地理学假说。系统发育分析结果显示，该物种存在三个主要支系，即东南沿海支系、长江支系与北方支系；其中后两支亲缘关系紧密，共同构成大陆支系。分化时间估算与溯祖模拟表明，东南沿海支系与大陆内部支系的分化发生于上新世晚期至更新世早期，而华北地区南北支系与长江中下游流域支系的分化则发生于更新世中晚期，提示所有支系的分化均早于末次冰盛期。研究同时发现，大陆支系内部的两个支系存在分布重叠区域，且在华北平原边缘的生态过渡带存在二次接触现象。上述结果表明，隔离分化主导了短尾蝮的演化历史。尽管更新世气候事件对中国爬行动物的历史分布及种内分化产生了显著影响，但溯祖分析与非溯祖种群遗传学分析结果显示，短尾蝮的所有支系似乎并未受到晚更新世冰期循环的负面影响，推测其原因为自更新世中期至晚期以来，东亚地区因海拔下降与季风发育形成了更多气候温和的栖息生境。