title: Hidden diversity in the Podarcis tauricus (Sauria, Lacertidae) species subgroup in the light of multilocus phylogeny and species delimitation.
abstract: The monophyletic species subgroup of Podarcis tauricus is distributed in the western and southern parts of the Balkans, and includes four species with unresolved and unstudied inter- and intra-specific phylogenetic relationships. Using sequence data from two mitochondrial and three nuclear genes and applying several phylogenetic methods and species delimitation approaches to an extensive dataset, we have reconstructed the phylogeny of the Podarcis wall lizards in the Balkans, and re-investigated the taxonomic status of the P. tauricus species subgroup. Multilocus analyses revealed that the aforementioned subgroup consists of five major clades, with P. melisellensis as its most basal taxon. Monophyly of P. tauricus sensu stricto is not supported, with one of the subspecies (P. t. ionicus) displaying great genetic diversity (hidden diversity or cryptic species). It comprises five, geographically distinct, subclades with genetic distances on the species level. Species delimitation approaches revealed nine species within the P. tauricus species subgroup (P. melisellensis, P. gaigeae, P. milensis, and six in the P. tauricus complex), underlining the necessity of taxonomic re-evaluation. We thus synonymize some previously recognized subspecies in this subgroup, elevate P. t. tauricus and P. g. gaigeae to the species level and suggest a distinct Albanian-Greek clade, provisionally named as the P. ionicus species complex. The latter clade comprises five unconfirmed candidate species that call for comprehensive studies in the future.
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Crete, Knosos Avenue, Irakleio 71409, Greece; Department of Biology, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Crete, Vassilika Vouton, Irakleio 70013, Greece. Electronic address: nikos.psonis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Psonis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Gournes Pediados, Irakleio 71003, Greece.
authors.forename: Aglaia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antoniou
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity Studies and Ecological Monitoring, T.I. Vyazemski Karadagh Scientific Station - Nature Reserve of RAS, Nauki Srt., 24, stm. Kurortnoe, Theodosia 298188, Republic of the Crimea, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Oleg
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kukushkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jablonski
authors.affiliation: National Museum of Natural History, Sofia 1000, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Boyan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Petrov
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Niš, Višegradska 33, Niš 18000, Serbia; Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", University of Belgrade, Despota Stefana 142, Beograd 11000, Serbia.
authors.forename: Jelka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crnobrnja-Isailović
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Applications and Technologies, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sotiropoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, 501 Life Sciences West, Stillwater 74078, OK, USA; Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, 2080 Adelbert Road, Cleveland 44106, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Iulian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gherghel
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Crete, Knosos Avenue, Irakleio 71409, Greece.
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lymberakis
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Crete, Knosos Avenue, Irakleio 71409, Greece; Department of Biology, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Crete, Vassilika Vouton, Irakleio 70013, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Poulakakis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D063368:Balkan Peninsula; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008116:Lizards / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D004247:DNA
keywords: Coalescent methods; Hidden genetic diversity; Phylogenetic analyses; Species complex; Species delimitation