Detection of cryptic diversity in lizards (Squamata) from two Biosphere Reserves in Mesoamerica

By

Castiglia, Riccardo
Flores-Villela, Oscar
Bezerra, Alexandra Maria Ramos.
Gornung, Ekaterina
Annesi, Flavia
Muñoz-Alonso, Luis Antonio
Solano, Emanuela

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020-12-22

Original Publication

Comparative cytogenetics : international journal of plant & animal cytogenetics, karyosystematics and molecular systematics

Volume

14

Series / Issue

Issue: 4

Pages

613--638

Subjects

Cytotaxomy , DNA , herpetofauna , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

St. Petersburg, Russia [Published] with technical support of Zoological Institute RAS [2007]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/CompCytogen.v14.i4.57765

 

Abstract

A combined approach based on karyology and DNA taxonomy allowed us to characterize the taxonomic peculiarities in 10 Mesoamerican lizard species, belonging to six genera and five families, inhabiting two Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico: La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve, and Montes Azules Biosphere. The karyotypes of four species,Phyllodactylussp. 3 (P. tuberculosusspecies group) (2n = 38),Holcosus festivus(Lichtenstein et von Martens, 1856) (2n = 50),Anolis lemurinusCope, 1861 (2n = 40), andA. uniformisCope, 1885 (2n = 29–30) are described for the first time, the last one showing a particular X1X1X2X2/X1X2Y condition. InAspidoscelis deppii(Wiegmann, 1834) (2n = 50) andAnolis capitoPeters, 1863 (2n = 42), we found a different karyotype from the ones previously reported for these species. Moreover, inA. capito, the cytogenetic observation is concurrent with a considerable genetic divergence (9%) at the studied mtDNA marker (MT-ND2), which is indicative of a putative new cryptic species. The skinkScincella cherriei(Cope, 1893), showed high values of genetic divergence (5.2% at 16S gene) between the specimens from Montes Azules and those from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, comparable to the values typical of sister species in skinks. A lower level of genetic divergence, compatible with an intraspecific phylogeographic structure, has been identified inLepidophyma flavimaculatumDuméril, 1851. These new data identify taxa that urgently require more in-depth taxonomic studies especially in these areas where habitat alteration is proceeding at an alarming rate.