Multilocus phylogeny reveals unexpected diversification patterns in Asian wolf snakes (genus Lycodon) CAMERON D. SILER,CARL H. OLIVEROS,ANSSI SANTANEN &RAFE M. BROWN Submitted: 6 September 2012 Accepted: 8 December 2012 doi:10.1111/zsc.12007 Siler, C. D., Oliveros, C. H., Santanen, A., Brown, R. M. (2013). Multilocus phylogeny reveals unexpected diversification patterns in Asian wolf snakes (genus Lycodon). —Zoologica Scripta, 00, 000–000. The diverse group of Asian wolf snakes of the genus Lycodon represents one of many poorly understood radiations of advanced snakes in the superfamily Colubroidea. Outside of three species having previously been represented in higher-level phylogenetic analyses, nothing is known of the relationships among species in this unique, moderately diverse, group. The genus occurs widely from central to Southeast Asia, and contains both widespread species to forms that are endemic to small islands. One-third of the diversity is found in the Philippine archipelago. Both morphological similarity and highly variable diagnostic characters have contributed to confusion over species-level diversity. Additionally, the placement of the genus among genera in the subfamily Colubrinae remains uncertain, although previous studies have supported a close relationship with the genus Dinodon. In this study, we provide the first estimate of phylogenetic relationships within the genus Lycodon using a new multi- locus data set. We provide statistical tests of monophyly based on biogeographic, morpho- logical and taxonomic hypotheses. With few exceptions, we are able to reject many of these hypotheses, indicating a need for taxonomic revisions and a reconsideration of the group's biogeography. Mapping of color patterns on our preferred phylogenetic tree suggests that banded and blotched types have evolved on multiple occasions in the history of the genus, whereas the solid-color (and possibly speckled) morphotype color patterns evolved only once. Our results reveal that the colubrid genus Dinodon is nested within Lycodon—a clear finding that necessitates the placing of the former genus in synonymy with the latter. Corresponding author: Cameron D. Siler, Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA. E-mail: cameron.siler@usd.edu Carl H. Oliveros, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561, USA. E-mail: oliveros@ku.edu Anssi Santanen, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561, USA. E-mail: anssisantanen@yahoo.com Rafe M. Brown, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561, USA. E-mail: rafe@ku.edu Introduction The superfamily Colubroidea (sensu Pyron et al. 2011), or advanced snakes, represents one of the most strikingly diverse terrestrial radiations of living vertebrates (Lawson et al. 2005; Burbrink & Pyron 2008; Pyron et al. 2011). Currently, more than 2500 species are recognized (Lawson et al. 2005; Pyron et al. 2011) in this relatively young clade dating only to the Cenozoic (Burbrink & Pyron 2008; Vidal et al. 2009). Seven families of snakes are considered members of the clade (Colubridae, Elapidae, Homalopsi- dae, Lamprophiidae, Pareatidae, Viperidae and Xenoder- matidae; Pyron et al. 2011), which has been determined to be monophyletic based on both morphological (Rieppel 1988; Zaher 1999; Lee & Scanlon 2002) and molecular data (Cadle 1988; Heise et al. 1995; Kraus & Brown 1998; Gravlund 2001; Slowinski & Lawson 2002, 2005; Wilcox et al. 2002; Lawson et al. 2005; Pyron et al. 2011). Over the last decade, numerous studies have investigated rela- tionships among advanced snakes within the superfamily Colubroidea with widely varying degrees of taxonomic inclusion (Lawson et al. 2005; Burbrink & Pyron 2008; Wiens et al. 2008; Kelly et al. 2009; Vidal et al. 2009; Zaher et al. 2009; Pyron et al. 2011). To date, the superm- atrix of Pyron et al. (2011) has been by far the most ª 2013 The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters 1 Zoologica Scripta