Jamie R. Oaks

TL;DR: Traditional views of the evolution of Crocodylus are overturned by demonstrating that the true crocodiles are not “living‐fossils” that originated in Africa, and rapidly radiated and dispersed around the globe during a period marked by mass extinctions of fellow crocodylians.

TL;DR: An ongoing renaissance of species discovery is characterized and how a 25-year Pleistocene island connectivity paradigm continues to provide some explanatory power, but has been augmented by increased understanding of the archipelago's geological history and ecological gradients is described.

TL;DR: Single nucleotide polymorphism data, ubiquitous genetic markers once considered reserved for population genetic studies, are now being applied in phylogenetics research at deep evolutionary timescales, suggesting that they will remain an important source of genetic information for inferring phylogenies across time periods ranging from the Anthropocene to the Cretaceous.

TL;DR: This study contributes to a nascent body of literature suggesting that the current paradigm for Philippine biogeography is an oversimplification requiring revision, and finds complex patterns that are only partially explained by past island connectivity.

TL;DR: The genetic diversity within the lizard genus Gekko in the Philippine islands is examined to understand the role of geography and geological history in shaping species diversity in this group.