Members of the snake subfamily Aparallactinae occur in various habitats throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The monophyly of aparallactine snakes is well established, but relationships within the subfamily are poorly known. We sampled 158 individuals from six of eight aparallactine genera in sub-Saharan Africa. We employed concatenated gene-tree analyses, divergence dating approaches, and ancestral-area reconstructions to infer phylogenies and biogeographic patterns with a multi-locus data set consisting of three mitochondrial (16S, cyt b, and ND4) and two nuclear genes (c-mos and RAG1). As a result, we uncover several cryptic lineages and elevate a lineage of Polemon to full species status. Diversification occurred predominantly during the Miocene, with a few speciation events occurring subsequently in the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Biogeographic analyses suggested that the Zambezian biogeographic region, comprising grasslands and woodlands, facilitated radiations, vicariance, and dispersal for many aparallactines. Moreover, the geographic distributions of many forest species were fragmented during xeric and cooler conditions, which likely led to diversification events. Biogeographic patterns of aparallactine snakes are consistent with previous studies of other sub-Saharan herpetofauna.

African Amphibian Conservation Research Group Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management North West University Potchefstroom 2520 South Africa; Flora Fauna and Man Ecological Services Ltd Tortola British Virgin Islands

Département des Vertébrés Récents Institut Royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique Rue Vautier 29 1000 Brussels Belgium

Department of Biological Sciences University of Texas at El Paso 500 W University Ave El Paso TX 79968 USA

Department of Biology Villanova University Villanova PA 19085 USA

Department of Biology Whitman College 345 Boyer Avenue Walla Walla WA 99362 USA

Department of Environmental Sciences Makerere University P O Box 7298 Kampala Uganda

Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology School of Science and the Environment Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester UK

Dříteč 65 53305 Czech Republic

Institut National de Recherche en Sciences Exactes et Naturelles BP 2400 Brazzaville People's Republic of Congo

Institut Superieur d'Ecologie pour la Conservation de la Nature Katana Campus Sud Kivu Democratic Republic of the Congo

Laboratoire d'Herpétologie Département de Biologie Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles Lwiro Democratic Republic of the Congo

Laboratoire de Paludologie et Zoologie Médicale Institut de Recherche pour le Développement UMR MIVEGEC B P 1386 Dakar Senegal

Museo di Storia naturale del Salento Sp Calimera Borgagne km1 73021 Calimera Italy

Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Invalidenstr 43 10115 Berlin Germany

Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Invalidenstr 43 10115 Berlin Germany; Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management University of Freiburg Tennenbacher Straße 4 79106 Freiburg Germany

Port Elizabeth Museum P O Box 11347 Humewood 6013 South Africa; Department of Zoology P O Box 77000 Nelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth 6031 South Africa

Port Elizabeth Museum P O Box 11347 Humewood 6013 South Africa; School of Natural Resource Management George Campus Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University George 6530 South Africa

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences OD Taxonomy and Phylogeny Rue Vautier 29 1000 Brussels Belgium

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Evolutionary history of burrowing asps (Lamprophiidae: Atractaspidinae) with emphasis on fang evolution and prey selection