title: First assessment on the molecular phylogeny of Anatololacerta (Squamata, Lacertidae) distributed in Southern Anatolia: insights from mtDNA and nDNA markers.
abstract: The genus Anatololacerta (Lacertidae) occurs mainly in Anatolia (western and southern Turkey) and on the Aegean islands Samos, Ikaria, and Rhodos. Although its taxonomy has long been debated and is currently nascent, three morphological species have been attributed to this genus: Anatololacerta anatolica, Anatololacerta oertzeni, and Anatololacerta danfordi. Here, we investigated the evolutionary history of A. oertzeni and Anatololacerta danfordi based on both mitochondrial and nuclear markers (16S rRNA and cmos). In total, 34 Anatololacerta specimens were analyzed using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods. Our results supported the presence of four well-supported lineages: two belongs to A. oertzeni and two to A. danfordi. The temporal diversification of these lineages probably started with the divergence of the first A. oertzeni lineage from western Antalya at 7.9 Mya. The other two major splits may have occurred in early Pliocene (4.4 Mya: the divergence of the second A. oertzeni from A. danfordi) and in late Pliocene (2.7 Mya: the divergence of the two lineages of A. danfordi). The phylogeographical scenario suggests that the major diversification events (from late Miocene to late Pliocene) could be related with climatic oscillations (such as the late Miocene aridification and the Messinian Salinity Crisis) and tectonic movements (such as the uplift of the central Taurus mountain).
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biology, Faculty of Science , Ege University , Bornova-İzmir , Turkey .|b Department of Biology, Faculty of Science , Dokuz Eylül University , Buca-İzmir , Turkey .
authors.forename: Kamil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Candan
authors.affiliation: c Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts , Aksaray University , Aksaray , Turkey .
authors.forename: Tolga
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kankılıç
authors.affiliation: d Department of Plant and Animal Production , Güzelyurt Vocational School , Güzelyurt-Aksaray , Turkey .
authors.forename: Özgür
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Güçlü
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biology, Faculty of Science , Dokuz Eylül University , Buca-İzmir , Turkey .
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kumlutaş
authors.affiliation: e Department of Biology, Faculty of Education , Dokuz Eylül University , Buca-İzmir , Turkey .
authors.forename: Salih Hakan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Durmuş
authors.affiliation: f Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete , Iraklio , Crete , Greece , and.
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lymberakis
authors.affiliation: f Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete , Iraklio , Crete , Greece , and.|g Department of Biology , University of Crete , Iraklio , Crete , Greece.
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Poulakakis
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biology, Faculty of Science , Dokuz Eylül University , Buca-İzmir , Turkey .
authors.forename: Çetin
authors.initials: Ç
authors.lastname: Ilgaz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006239:Haplotypes; D008116:Lizards / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004247:DNA
keywords: Anatolia; Anatololacerta; biogeography; divergence times; molecular systematic; phylogeny; reptilia