title: Intraspecific lineages of the lizard Phrynocephalus putjatia from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: impact of physical events on divergence and discordance between morphology and molecular markers.
abstract: The Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (NQTP) contains many physical features that may have contributed to its rich biological diversity. We explored the systematics and genetic structures of the sand lizards Phrynocephalus putjatia, distributed across semi-deserts or rocky steppe habitats, and Phrynocephalus guinanensis, found only in sand dune habitats, from the NQTP using mitochondrial (ND2 and tRNAs) and nuclear (RAG-1) markers. Bayesian analyses revealed two main monophyletic mtDNA groups that separate populations of the Qinghai Lake Basin (QLB) from populations to the southeast of this basin (SEQL), but these did not correspond to the two morphological species. The QLB populations are divided into western and eastern groups. Two major groups with similar geographical structuring were also detected for the nuclear RAG-1 marker, but with some geographical discordance. A Bayesian species delimitation analysis did not support division of P. putjatia/P. guinanensis into separate species. Bayesian dating of mtDNA suggests that the earliest divergence within this group occurred less than 2 Ma, which seems to be explained by mountain uplift between the QLB and the SEQL regions. Other Pleistocene events may explain further genetic structuring. Overall, we do not detect reciprocal monophyly of markers between morphological species but note that they do appear to represent ecological forms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, No. 258, Xueyuan St., Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, PR China. Electronic address: jinyuanting@126.com.
authors.forename: Yuanting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan Province 637002, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhisong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, L3 3AF Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, No. 258, Xueyuan St., Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, PR China.
authors.forename: Pinghu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, PR China.
authors.forename: Naifa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002681:China; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D060106:Lakes; D008116:Lizards / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Agamidae; Phrynocephalus; Phylogenesis; Qinghai Lake; Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau