title: Phylogenetic relationships of Semaphore geckos (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae: Pristurus) with an assessment of the taxonomy of Pristurus rupestris.
abstract: A molecular phylogeny of the sphaerodactylid geckos of the genus Pristurus is inferred based on an alignment of 1845 base pairs (bp) of concatenated mitochondrial (12S) and nuclear (acm4, cmos, rag1 and rag2) genes for 80 individuals, representing 18 of the 23-26 species, and the three subspecies of P. rupestris. The results indicate that P. rupestris is polyphyletic and includes two highly divergent clades: the eastern clade, found in coastal Iran and throughout the Hajar Mountain range in northern Oman and eastern UAE; and the western clade, distributed from central coastal Oman, through Yemen, Saudi Arabia and north to southern Jordan. Inferred haplotype networks for the four nuclear genes show that the eastern and western clades of "P. rupestris" are highly differentiated and do not share any alleles. Moreover, although the two clades are differentiated by a morphological multivariate analysis, no one character or set of characters was found to be diagnostic. Based on the molecular analysis of specimens from the type locality of P. rupestris rupestris, the name P. rupestris is applied to the eastern clade. The name that should apply to the western clade cannot be clarified until morphological and genetic data for "P. rupestris" is available from the vicinity of Bosaso, Somalia, and therefore we refer to it as Pristurus sp. 1. The phylogenetic tree of Pristurus supports the hypothesis that P. celerrimus is sister to all the other species in the analyses and that the Socotra Archipelago was independently colonized a minimum of two times.
authors: Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain; Email: unknown.
authors: Arnaud
authors: A
authors: Badiane
authors: Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain; Email: unknown.
authors: Joan
authors: J
authors: Garcia-Porta
authors: Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Department of Ecology, Viničná 7, 128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic; Email: unknown.
authors: Jan
authors: J
authors: Červenka
authors: Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Department of Ecology, Viničná 7, 128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic; Email: unknown.
authors: Lukáš
authors: L
authors: Kratochvíl
authors: Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, via San Francesco di Sales, 88 - 10022 Carmagnola (TO), Italy; Email: unknown.
authors: Roberto
authors: R
authors: Sindaco
authors: 8935 E. Michigan Ave, Sun Lakes, AZ 85248, USA.; Email: unknown.
authors: Michael D
authors: MD
authors: Robinson
authors: School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Australia; Email: unknown.
authors: Hernan
authors: H
authors: Morales
authors: Dříteč 65, 53305, Czech Republic; Email: unknown.
authors: Tomáš
authors: T
authors: Mazuch
authors: St. Gallen, Switzerland; Email: unknown.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Price
authors: Àrea d'Herpetologia, Museu de Granollers-Ciències Naturals, Francesc Macià 51, 08400 Granollers, Catalonia, Spain; Email: unknown.
authors: Fèlix
authors: F
authors: Amat
authors: Biology department, Faculty of Science, Taif University 888, Taif, Saudi Arabia; Email: unknown.
authors: Mohammed Y
authors: MY
authors: Shobrak
authors: Zoologischer Garten Frankfurt, Bernhard-Grzimek-Allee 1, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Email: unknown.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Wilms
authors: Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain; Email: unknown.
authors: Marc
authors: M
authors: Simó-Riudalbas
authors: Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran; Email: unknown.
authors: Faraham
authors: F
authors: Ahmadzadeh
authors: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Email: unknown.
authors: Theodore J
authors: TJ
authors: Papenfuss
authors: ECO-MED, Tour Méditérannée, 65 avenue Jules Cantini, 13298 Marseille cedex 20, France; Email: unknown.
authors: Alexandre
authors: A
authors: Cluchier
authors: ECO-MED, Tour Méditérannée, 65 avenue Jules Cantini, 13298 Marseille cedex 20, France; Email: unknown.
authors: Julien
authors: J
authors: Viglione
authors: Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain; Email: salvador.carranza@ibe.upf-csic.es.
authors: Salvador
authors: S
authors: Carranza
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D008116:Lizards / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D008877:Middle East; D010802:Phylogeny; D012998:Somalia
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial