Biodiversity reduction and loss continues to progress at an alarming rate, and thus there is widespread interest in utilizing rapid and efficient methods for quantifying and delimiting taxonomic diversity. Single-locus species-delimitation methods have become popular, in part due to the adoption of the DNA barcoding paradigm. These techniques can be broadly classified into tree-based and distance-based methods depending on whether species are delimited based on a constructed genealogy. Although the relative performance of these methods has been tested repeatedly with simulations, additional studies are needed to assess congruence with empirical data. We compiled a large data set of mitochondrial ND4 sequences from horned lizards (Phrynosoma) to elucidate congruence using four tree-based (single-threshold GMYC, multiple-threshold GMYC, bPTP, mPTP) and one distance-based (ABGD) species delimitation models. We were particularly interested in cases with highly uneven sampling and/or large differences in intraspecific diversity. Results showed a high degree of discordance among methods, with multiple-threshold GMYC and bPTP suggesting an unrealistically high number of species (29 and 26 species within the P. douglasii complex alone). The single-threshold GMYC model was the most conservative, likely a result of difficulty in locating the inflection point in the genealogies. mPTP and ABGD appeared to be the most stable across sampling regimes and suggested the presence of additional cryptic species that warrant further investigation. These results suggest that the mPTP model may be preferable in empirical data sets with highly uneven sampling or large differences in effective population sizes of species.
Phrynos_ND4_220_OGs
Multiple sequence alignment of unique ND4 haplotypes (220).
Phrynos_ND4_GMYC_OGs_fixed.fasta
Phrynos_ND4_Unique_Haplotypes_ABGD
Multiple sequence alignment for ABGD analysis of unique haplotypes with singletons removed.
Phrynos_ND4_GMYC_OGs_fixed_ABGD.fasta
Phrynos_ND4_EvenSampling_149
Multiple sequence alignment of 149 ND4 haplotypes (even sampling) after pruning P. platyrhinos sequences.
Phrynos_ND4_GMYC_OGs_fixed_EvenSampling.fasta
Phrynos_ND4_EvenSampling_ABGD
Multiple sequence alignment for ABGD analysis on the evenly sampled data set with singletons removed.
Phrynos_ND4_GMYC_OGs_fixed_EvenSampling_ABGD.fasta
Phrynosoma_ND4_all_OGs
Multiple sequence alignment of all ND4 sequences (368) including duplicate haplotypes.
Phrynosoma_ND4_363_ABGD
Multiple sequence alignment of 363 ND4 haplotypes (including duplicates) with singletons removed.
RAxML_bestTree_220
ML tree from RAxML analysis of 220 haplotypes.
RAxML_bestTree_fixed.Phrynos_mPTP
RAxML_bipartitions_220
ML tree from RaxML analysis of 220 haplotypes with bootstrap support on nodes.
RAxML_bipartitions_fixed.Phrynos_mPTP
RAxML_bestTree_149
ML tree from RaxML analysis of 149 haplotypes on the evenly sampled data set.
RAxML_bestTree.Phrynos_fixed_EvenSampling_PTP
RAxML_bipartitions_149
ML tree from RAxML analysis of 149 haplotypes on the evenly sampled data set. Nodes are annotated with bootstrap proportions.
RAxML_bipartitions.Phrynos_fixed_EvenSampling_PTP
MCCTree_CAHeights_220
BEAST MCC tree based on 220 unique haplotypes. Node heights annotated using common ancestor heights.
Phrynos_BEAST_GMYC_fixed_MeanHeights_220
BEAST MCC tree based on 220 unique haplotypes. Node heights annotated using mean heights.
Phrynos_BEAST_MCC_fixed_220_MedianHeights
BEAST MCC tree based on 220 unique haplotypes. Node heights annotated using median heights.
Phrynos_GMYC_fixed_EvenSampling_MCC
BEAST MCC tree based on 149 unique haplotypes with even sampling. Node heights annotated using mean heights.
Phrynos_BEAST_368_CaHeights
BEAST MCC tree based on 368 haplotypes (including duplicates). Node heights annotated using common ancestor heights.
Phrynos_BEAST_368_MeanHeights
BEAST MCC tree based on 368 haplotypes (including duplicates). Node heights annotated using mean heights.
Phrynos_BEAST_368_MedianHeights
BEAST MCC tree based on 368 haplotypes (including duplicates). Node heights annotated using median heights.
RAxML_bestTree_368
ML tree from RAxML analysis of 368 sequences (including duplicates).
RAxML_bestTree.Phrynos_368_RAxML
RAxML_bipartitions_368
ML tree from RAxML analysis of 368 sequences (including duplicates). Nodes annotated with bootstrap proportions.
RAxML_bipartitions.Phrynos_368_RAxML