Taxonomic reassessment and phylogenetic placement of Cyrtodactylus phuketensis (Reptilia, Gekkonidae) based on morphological and molecular evidence

By

Termprayoon, Korkhwan
Rujirawan, Attapol
Grismer, Lee
Wood, Perry L., Jr.
Aowphol, Anchalee

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1040

Pages

91--121

Subjects

Cyrtodactylus macrotuberculatus , Malaysia , Morphology , Phylogeny , taxonomic status , Thailand , Thai-Malay Peninsula

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1040.65750

 

Abstract

The taxonomy and phylogeny of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex along the Thai-Malay Peninsular region has been the focus of many recent studies and has resulted in the recognition of 17 species. However, the majority of these studies were focused on Peninsular and insular Malaysia where there were specimens and genetic vouchers. The taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of the Thai species in this complex remain unresolved, due to the lack of genetic material of some species, especially C. phuketensis and C. macrotuberculatus from Thai populations. In this study, we investigated the phylogenetic relationship between C. phuketensis and its closely related species C. macrotuberculatus, using both morphometric and molecular data. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) gene revealed that C. phuketensis is embedded within a C. macrotuberculatus clade with 1.45–4.20% (mean 2.63%) uncorrected pairwise sequence divergences. Morphological comparisons showed nearly identical measurements of C. phuketensis and C. macrotuberculatus and overlapping ranges in meristic characters. Based on these data, C. phuketensis is considered to be a variant of C. macrotuberculatus, thus rendering C. phuketensis a junior synonym of C. macrotuberculatus.