Historical biogeography, phylogenetic relationships and intraspecific diversity of agamid lizards in the Central Asian deserts of Kazakhstan and Uzbek

The Central Asian agamid lizards are ecologically and morphologically diverse, occurring across a broad range of desert environments in this biogeographically important region. It is probable that past climatic shifts have significantly influenced the diversification patterns and distributions of the agamid lizards of this region. To assess this within a phylogenetic framework we sequenced a [approximately equal to]1200bp region of mitochondrial DNA and a [approximately equal to]1200bp nuclear gene (RAG-1), incorporating both inter- and intraspecific sampling across Central Asian agamids. Our topology and divergence time estimates support an Eocene origin of the Agaminae subfamily on the Indian subcontinent, coinciding with the collision of India into Eurasia. The onset of aridification in Central Asia during the Late Oligocene, resulting from the retreat of the Paratethys Sea and the intensified uplift of the Tibetan-Himalayan complex, probably played an important role in the diversification of Phrynocephalus, one of the three genera studied. Intensification of aridity and geologic events in the Plio-Pleistocene and Quaternary glacial cycling probably had a significant influence on intraspecific diversification patterns within Phrynocephalus.

Author Affiliation:

(a) Department of Sciences, Museum Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia

(b) Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Carlton, VIC, Australia

(c) Department of Herpetology, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

(d) Department of Sustainability and Environment, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia

Article History:

Received 15 December 2008; Revised 14 April 2009; Accepted 4 May 2009

Source Citation:Melville, Jane, Joshua Hale, Georgia Mantziou, Natalia B. Ananjeva, Konstantin Milto, and Nick Clemann. "Historical biogeography, phylogenetic relationships and intraspecific diversity of agamid lizards in the Central Asian deserts of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.(Report)." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53.1 (Oct 2009): 99(14). Academic OneFile. Gale. BROWARD COUNTY LIBRARY. 5 Aug. 2009
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Gale Document Number:A204989210