Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic reassessment of the widespread agamid lizard Calotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802) (Squamata, Agamidae) across South Asia

Vertebrate Zoology

article

Gaurang Gowande¹  Saunak Pal³  Daniel Jablonski⁵  Rafaqat Masroor⁶  Pushkar U. Phansalkar⁷  Princia Dsouza³  Aditi Jayarajan³  Kartik Shanker³ 

[1] Abasaheb Garware College;Fergusson College;Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science;Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay Natural History Society;Comenius University;Pakistan Museum of Natural History;Unaffiliated

关键词: 16S;    COI;    distribution;    mtDNA;    phylogenetics;    species complex;    species delimitation;    systematics;   

DOI  :  10.3897/vz.71.e62787

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Pensoft

【 摘 要 】

The genus Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Agamidae: Draconinae) is highly diverse, with species occurring in South and Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Most species of the subfamily except C. versicolor have narrow geographic distributions. Calotes versicolor is distributed from western Iran in the west to south China and Indonesia in the east and has been introduced to parts of Africa and North America. The species has had a complicated taxonomic history; multiple species and subspecies related to C. versicolor were described from India and adjoining regions, which were synonymized in subsequent revisions. However, a study of Burmese C. versicolor yielded two new species, C. htunwini and C. irawadi, indicating that C. versicolor is a species complex. Such integrative taxonomic studies have not been carried out in India, the supposed type locality of C. versicolor. Hence, we studied C. versicolor sensu lato from the Indian subcontinent and generated sequences of mitochondrial 16S and COI fragments from tissues sampled from multiple localities in the region, including the type localities of its synonyms. Phylogenetic analyses revealed four well-supported, deeply-divergent lineages, supported by morphological data. These lineages represent (i) C. versicolor sensu stricto, from South India and parts of the east coast, (ii) C. irawadi sensu lato from northeast India and Southeast Asia, (iii) a synonym from the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains which we resurrect here, and (iv) a subspecies from Pakistan which we elevate to species level. We provide re-descriptions for the resurrected or elevated species, and a diagnostic key to the species of the C. versicolor complex. The study shows that C. versicolor sensu stricto is endemic to parts of southern and eastern India, and not widely distributed, though it may have been introduced to other parts of the world.

【 授权许可】

CC BY