title: Phylogeny of the genus Rhynchocalamus (Reptilia; Colubridae) with a first record from the Sultanate of Oman.
abstract: The genus Rhynchocalamus comprises three species distributed in Southwest Asia. Little is known about them, most probably because of their secretive fossorial lifestyle. The poor knowledge of the genus is even underscored by the fact that its phylogenetic affinities remained unclear until very recently. The least known of the species, Rhynchocalamus arabicus, is known only from the holotype collected in Aden, Yemen, and it has not been observed since its description in 1933. Here we provide a second record for this species, which represents the first record of this genus for Oman. This extends its range in southern Arabia by more than 1000 km. The observed specimen was determined as R. arabicus on the basis of its similarity in size, color, and scalation with the holotype. Furthermore, we sequenced three mitochondrial (12S, 16S, cytb) and one nuclear (cmos) genes for R. arabicus and for two individuals of R. melanocephalus and one R. satunini and inferred the phylogenetic relationships of all currently recognized species of the genus for the first time. The results of our phylogenetic analyses indicate that Rhynchocalamus is a member of the Western Palearctic clade of Colubrinae and is sister to Lytorhynchus, with which it forms a very well supported clade and shares some morphological characters. As our results show, R. satunini is the basal lineage of the genus and R. melanocephalus is sister to R. arabicus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, National Museum, Cirkusová 1740, Prague, Czech Republic; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Jiří
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Šmíd
authors.affiliation: C/ Pedro Antonio de Alarcón nº 34, 5º A, 18002, Granada, Spain; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Welfenstr. 13, 86879 Wiedergeltingen, Germany; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Jurgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gebhart
authors.affiliation: C/ Uruguay nº16, 3ºA, 28016 Madrid, Spain; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aznar
authors.affiliation: Carretera motores, 211, 04720 Aguadulce, Almeria, Spain; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gállego
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Zoology Section, Faculty of Science, Ege University, TR 35100 Bornova-Izmir, Turkey; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Bayram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Göçmen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Sciences and Engineering, Departament de Producció Animal (Fauna Silvestre), Universitat de Lleida, E-125198, Lleida, Spain Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Pous
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamar
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Email: salvador.carranza@ibe.upf-csic.es.
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carranza
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D017812:Colubridae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009850:Oman; D009929:Organ Size; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S