Crypsis and convergence: integrative taxonomic revision of the Gehyra australis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northern Australia
For over two decades, assessments of geographic variation in mtDNA and small numbers of nuclear loci have revealed morphologically similar, but genetically divergent, intraspecific lineages in lizards from around the world. Subsequent morphological analyses often find subtle corresponding diagnostic...
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PeerJ Inc.
2020-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/7971.pdf |
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| author | Paul M. Oliver Audrey Miranda Prasetya Leonardo G. Tedeschi Jessica Fenker Ryan J. Ellis Paul Doughty Craig Moritz |
| author_facet | Paul M. Oliver Audrey Miranda Prasetya Leonardo G. Tedeschi Jessica Fenker Ryan J. Ellis Paul Doughty Craig Moritz |
| author_sort | Paul M. Oliver |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For over two decades, assessments of geographic variation in mtDNA and small numbers of nuclear loci have revealed morphologically similar, but genetically divergent, intraspecific lineages in lizards from around the world. Subsequent morphological analyses often find subtle corresponding diagnostic characters to support the distinctiveness of lineages, but occasionally do not. In recent years it has become increasingly possible to survey geographic variation by sequencing thousands of loci, enabling more rigorous assessment of species boundaries across morphologically similar lineages. Here we take this approach, adding new, geographically extensive SNP data to existing mtDNA and exon capture datasets for the Gehyra australis and G. koira species complexes of gecko from northern Australia. The combination of exon-based phylogenetics with dense spatial sampling of mitochondrial DNA sequencing, SNP-based tests for introgression at lineage boundaries and newly-collected morphological evidence supports the recognition of nine species, six of which are newly described here. Detection of discrete genetic clusters using new SNP data was especially convincing where candidate taxa were continuously sampled across their distributions up to and across geographic boundaries with analyses revealing no admixture. Some species defined herein appear to be truly cryptic, showing little, if any, diagnostic morphological variation. As these SNP-based approaches are progressively applied, and with all due conservatism, we can expect to see a substantial improvement in our ability to delineate and name cryptic species, especially in taxa for which previous approaches have struggled to resolve taxonomic boundaries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:24:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f22f80be0f0c46f8bd7d3290c81ec647 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:24:22Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
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| spelling | doaj.art-f22f80be0f0c46f8bd7d3290c81ec6472023-12-03T11:30:15ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592020-01-018e797110.7717/peerj.7971Crypsis and convergence: integrative taxonomic revision of the Gehyra australis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northern AustraliaPaul M. Oliver0Audrey Miranda Prasetya1Leonardo G. Tedeschi2Jessica Fenker3Ryan J. Ellis4Paul Doughty5Craig Moritz6Environmental Futures Research Institute and School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, South Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaDivision of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, and Centre for Biodiversity Analysis, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, AustraliaDivision of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, and Centre for Biodiversity Analysis, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, AustraliaDivision of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, and Centre for Biodiversity Analysis, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, AustraliaTerrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, WA, AustraliaTerrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, WA, AustraliaDivision of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, and Centre for Biodiversity Analysis, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, AustraliaFor over two decades, assessments of geographic variation in mtDNA and small numbers of nuclear loci have revealed morphologically similar, but genetically divergent, intraspecific lineages in lizards from around the world. Subsequent morphological analyses often find subtle corresponding diagnostic characters to support the distinctiveness of lineages, but occasionally do not. In recent years it has become increasingly possible to survey geographic variation by sequencing thousands of loci, enabling more rigorous assessment of species boundaries across morphologically similar lineages. Here we take this approach, adding new, geographically extensive SNP data to existing mtDNA and exon capture datasets for the Gehyra australis and G. koira species complexes of gecko from northern Australia. The combination of exon-based phylogenetics with dense spatial sampling of mitochondrial DNA sequencing, SNP-based tests for introgression at lineage boundaries and newly-collected morphological evidence supports the recognition of nine species, six of which are newly described here. Detection of discrete genetic clusters using new SNP data was especially convincing where candidate taxa were continuously sampled across their distributions up to and across geographic boundaries with analyses revealing no admixture. Some species defined herein appear to be truly cryptic, showing little, if any, diagnostic morphological variation. As these SNP-based approaches are progressively applied, and with all due conservatism, we can expect to see a substantial improvement in our ability to delineate and name cryptic species, especially in taxa for which previous approaches have struggled to resolve taxonomic boundaries.https://peerj.com/articles/7971.pdfAustralian monsoonal tropicsCryptic speciesLizardHybridisationEndemismNew species |
| spellingShingle | Paul M. Oliver Audrey Miranda Prasetya Leonardo G. Tedeschi Jessica Fenker Ryan J. Ellis Paul Doughty Craig Moritz Crypsis and convergence: integrative taxonomic revision of the Gehyra australis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northern Australia PeerJ Australian monsoonal tropics Cryptic species Lizard Hybridisation Endemism New species |
| title | Crypsis and convergence: integrative taxonomic revision of the Gehyra australis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northern Australia |
| title_full | Crypsis and convergence: integrative taxonomic revision of the Gehyra australis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northern Australia |
| title_fullStr | Crypsis and convergence: integrative taxonomic revision of the Gehyra australis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northern Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crypsis and convergence: integrative taxonomic revision of the Gehyra australis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northern Australia |
| title_short | Crypsis and convergence: integrative taxonomic revision of the Gehyra australis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northern Australia |
| title_sort | crypsis and convergence integrative taxonomic revision of the gehyra australis group squamata gekkonidae from northern australia |
| topic | Australian monsoonal tropics Cryptic species Lizard Hybridisation Endemism New species |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/7971.pdf |
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