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Introgression obscures lineage boundaries and phylogeographic history in the western banded gecko, Coleonyx variegatus (Squamata: Eublepharidae)

January 20, 2020

The geomorphological formation of the Baja California peninsula and the Gulf of California is a principal driver of diversification for the reptiles of North America’s warm deserts. The western banded gecko, Coleonyx variegatus, is distributed throughout the Mojave, Sonoran and Peninsular deserts. In this study we use multilocus sequence data to address deep phylogeographic structure within C. variegatus. Analyses of mtDNA data recover six divergent clades throughout the range of C. variegatus. Topology of the mtDNA gene tree suggests separate origins of peninsular populations with an older lineage in the south and a younger one in the north. In contrast, analyses of multilocus nuclear data provide support for four lineages, corresponding to the subspecies C. v. abbotti, C. v. peninsularis, C. v. sonoriensis and C. v. variegatus. Phylogenetic analyses of the nuclear data recover C. v. abbotti and C. v. peninsularis as a clade, indicating a single origin of the peninsular populations. Discordance between the nuclear and mtDNA data is largely the result of repeated episodes of mtDNA introgression that have obscured both lineage boundaries and biogeographic history. Dating analyses of the combined nuclear and mtDNA data suggest that the peninsular clade diverged from the continental group in the Late Miocene.

Publication Year 2020
Title Introgression obscures lineage boundaries and phylogeographic history in the western banded gecko, Coleonyx variegatus (Squamata: Eublepharidae)
DOI 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz143
Authors Dean H Leavitt, Bradford Hollingsworth, Robert N. Fisher, Tod W Reeder
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Index ID 70208127
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Western Ecological Research Center