Open AccessDiversification and cryptic diversity of Ophisops elegans (Sauria, Lacertidae)
Author(s) -
Montgelard Claudine,
Behrooz Roozbeh,
Arnal Véronique,
Asadi Atefeh,
Geniez Philippe,
Kaboli Mohammad
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of zoological systematics and evolutionary research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.769
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1439-0469
pISSN - 0947-5745
DOI - 10.1111/jzs.12369
Subject(s) - biology , subspecies , lacertidae , species complex , clade , evolutionary biology , phylogeography , vicariance , zoology , biogeography , phylogenetic tree , ecology , sauria , genetics , gene , lizard
Revealing cryptic diversity constitutes the backbone of the future identification and description of a new lineage. For the genus Ophisops (Lacertidae), previous studies indicated that this genus is characterized by cryptic diversity as three clades were obtained for O. elegans and O. occidentalis that do not fit the classical systematics. Notably, we were interested to delineate the distribution range of the two clades of O. elegans described in Iran. We sequenced 65 individuals of Ophisops mainly from northwestern Iran for one mitochondrial ( cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 [ COI ]; 686 base pairs [bp]) and three nuclear genes ( R35 , MC1R , and PKM2 ; 1,857 bp). Phylogeographic analysis from mitochondrial and nuclear genes confirmed that Iranian samples belong to two major haplogroups (divergence of 13% for COI ) that are also split into several subclades (divergence of 6%–10% for COI ), revealing an unsuspected diversity within Iranian Ophisops . Divergence dating and biogeographical analysis indicated that most clades arose through vicariance and dispersal processes during the Mio‐Pliocene (between 7.2 and 1 Myr). However, a scenario of expansion/regression is also advocated for explaining the distribution and contact between three subclades in North Iran. We propose to recognize the three major clades as three potential candidate species. Moreover, we found some correspondence between several phylogenetic clades or subclades identified and six of the nine subspecies described for O. elegans . Both species and subspecies delimitation and identification would deserve additional investigations (including morphology, ecology, biogeography, and behavior) to fulfill the conditions of integrative taxonomy.