ABSTRACT
Kotschy's Gecko, Mediodactylus kotschyi, is a small gecko native to southeastern Europe and the Levant. It displays great morphological variation with a large number of morphologically recognized subspecies. However, it has been suggested that it constitutes a species complex of several yet unrecognized species. In this study, we used multilocus sequence data (three mitochondrial and three nuclear gene fragments) to estimate the phylogenetic relationships of 174 specimens from 129 sampling localities, covering a substantial part of the distribution range of the species. Our results revealed high genetic diversity of M. kotschyi populations and contributed to our knowledge about the phylogenetic relationships and the estimation of the divergence times between them. Diversification within M. kotschyi began approximately 15 million years ago (Mya) in the Middle Miocene, whereas the diversification within most of the major clades have been occurred in the last 5â¯Mya. Species delimitation analysis suggests there exists five species within the complex, and we propose to tentatively recognize the following taxa as full species: M. kotschyi (mainland Balkans, most of Aegean islands, and Italy), M. orientalis (Levant, Cyprus, southern Anatolia, and south-eastern Aegean islands), M. danilewskii (Black Sea region and south-western Anatolia), M. bartoni (Crete), and M. oertzeni (southern Dodecanese Islands). This newly recognized diversity underlines the complex biogeographical history of the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Subject(s)
Genetic Loci , Genetic Variation , Lizards/classification , Lizards/genetics , Phylogeny , Animals , Bayes Theorem , DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics , Geography , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics , Sequence Alignment , Species Specificity , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Meadow vipers (Vipera ursinii-renardi complex) are small-bodied snakes that live in either lowland grasslands or montane subalpine-alpine meadows spanning a distribution from France to western China. This complex has previously been the focus of several taxonomic studies which were based mainly on morphological, allozyme or immunological characters and did not clearly resolve the relationships between the various taxa. Recent mitochondrial DNA analyses found unexpected relationships within the complex which had taxonomical consequences for the detected lineages. The most surprising was the basal phylogenetic position of Vipera ursinii graeca, a taxon described almost 30 years ago from the mountains of Greece. We present here new analyses of three nuclear markers (BDNF, NT3, PRLR; a first for studies of meadow and steppe vipers) as well as analyses of newly obtained mitochondrial DNA sequences (CYT B, ND4).Our Bayesian analyses of nuclear sequences are concordant with previous studies of mitochondrial DNA, in that the phylogenetic position of the graeca clade is a clearly distinguished and distinct lineage separated from all other taxa in the complex. These phylogenetic results are also supported by a distinct morphology, ecology and isolated distribution of this unique taxon. Based on several data sets and an integrative species concept we recommend to elevate this taxon to species level: Vipera graeca Nilson & Andrén, 1988 stat. nov.
