title: Evolution around the Red Sea: Systematics and biogeography of the agamid genus Pseudotrapelus (Squamata: Agamidae) from North Africa and Arabia.
abstract: Since the Oligocene, regions adjacent to the Red Sea have experienced major environmental changes, from tectonic movements and continuous geological activity to shifting climatic conditions. The effect of these events on the distribution and diversity of the regional biota is still poorly understood. Agamid members of the genus Pseudotrapelus are diurnal, arid-adapted lizards distributed around the Red Sea from north-eastern Africa, across the mountains and rocky plateaus of the Sinai and Arabian Peninsulas northwards to Syria. Despite recent taxonomic work and the interest in the group as a model for studying biogeographic and diversity patterns of the arid areas of North Africa and Arabia, its taxonomy is poorly understood and a comprehensive phylogeny is still lacking. In this study, we analyzed 92 Pseudotrapelus specimens from across the entire distribution range of the genus. We included all known species and subspecies, and sequenced them for mitochondrial (16S, ND4 and tRNAs) and nuclear (MC1R, c-mos) markers. This enabled us to obtain the first time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of the genus, using gene trees, species trees and coalescent-based methods for species delimitation. Our results revealed Pseudotrapelus as a monophyletic genus comprised of two major clades and six independently evolving lineages. These lineages correspond to the five currently recognized species and a sixth lineage relating to the synonymized P. neumanni. The subspecific validity of P. sinaitus werneri needs further assessment as it does not form a distinct cluster relative to P. s. sinaitus. The onset of Pseudotrapelus diversification is estimated to have occurred in Arabia during the late Miocene. Radiation has likely resulted from vicariance and dispersal events due to the continued geological instability, sea level fluctuations and climatic changes within the region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel; The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. Electronic address: karintmr@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamar
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Geneva (MHNG), Department of Herpetology & Ichthyology, Route de Malagnou 1, 1208 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.affiliation: CNRS-UMR5175, CEFE - Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Pierre-André
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Crochet
authors.affiliation: CNRS-UMR5175, CEFE - Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Geniez
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel; The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
authors.forename: Shai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meiri
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Geneva (MHNG), Department of Herpetology & Ichthyology, Route de Malagnou 1, 1208 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: Zoologischer Garten Frankfurt, Bernhard-Grzimek-Allee 1D, 60316 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wilms
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carranza
mesh_terms: D000351:Africa, Eastern; D000352:Africa, Northern; D000818:Animals; D001083:Arabia; D002138:Calibration; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005819:Genetic Markers; D019156:Indian Ocean; D008116:Lizards / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013593:Syria
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Molecular clock; Multilocus phylogeny; Phylogeny; Phylogeography; Reptiles; Taxonomy