Systematic revision of mountain dragons (Reptilia: Agamidae: Diploderma ) in China, with descriptions of six new species and discussion on their conservation

Abstract

Cryptic diversity not only introduces confusion to taxonomic studies, but it also poses major challenges to conservation and environmental legislation. One such troubling group are the Mountain Dragons in the genus Diploderma in Southwest China. Previous studies have suggested that the genus contains considerable cryptic diversity, particularly in the D. flaviceps complex. Owing to taxonomic confusion, micro-endemic lineages are still neglected by the Chinese wildlife protection laws, despite their urgent conservation needs. Combining multivariate morphological and multi-locus phylogenetic data, we provide the first integrative systematic revision of the genus Diploderma. Specifically, we confirm that the six examined populations of D. cf. flaviceps from the upper Jinsha and Yalong River Valleys in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces represent six cryptic, undescribed lineages, and we describe each of them as a new species. With the updated taxonomy and distribution information, we discuss the taxonomy of the D. flaviceps complex in Southwest China, provide an updated diagnostic key along with distributional ranges for all species of the genus, and discuss some of the suspicious records of other congeners in China. Lastly, we evaluate the IUCN status of each of the six new species and highlight the major challenges for Diploderma conservation in China due to delayed environmental legislation and misleading conservation assessments.

Multi-Omics Approaches Revealed the Associations of Host Metabolism and Gut Microbiome With Phylogeny and Environmental Adaptation in Mountain Dragons

“…The influences of phylogeny (presented as genetic distances; Wang et al, 2020 ) and climatic factors (AMT, ATT, AP, NPP, and MI) on organ metabolome and gut microbiome were analyzed by PERMANOVA (adonis function in the Vegan package) based on R platform ( Dixon, 2003 ). These analyses set metabolites or bacterial taxa abundances as dependent variables, and genetic distances and climatic factors were selected as independent factors.…”

“…The Hengduan Mountain Region (HMR), located in the southeastern part of the Tibet Plateau, varies spatially in climatic factors (e.g., temperature and precipitation) ( Xu et al, 2018 ), resulting in many different ecosystems ( Myers et al, 2000 ; Lei et al, 2015 ). It harbors high reptile diversity, including more than ten Diploderma (Squamata: Sauria: Agamidae; mountain dragons) species, which are micro-endemic to the dry and hot valleys of HMR ( Wang et al, 2020 ). Currently, the formation of Diploderma diversity in HMR has not been studied systematically, and vicariant isolation, ecological divergence, and the low migration capacity of lizards (within 10 km; Southwood and Avens, 2010 ) are all potential drivers.…”

“…In this study, environment-related variations in organ metabolism (i.e., liver and hindlimb muscle) and gut microbial community composition were studied in three Diploderma species ( D. iadinum , D. yulongense , and D. vela ). D. yulongense and D. vela are phylogenetically closer to each other than to D. iadinum ( Figure 1A ; Wang et al, 2020 ), while D. iadinum and D. vela are spatially closer to each other (the Lancang River Valley) than to D. yulongense (the Jinsha River Valley) ( Figure 1B ). The associations between biological traits and climatic factors (e.g., temperature and precipitation) were analyzed at a population level (across species and within species).…”

“… Animal phylogeny, study area, and significant climatic factors. (A) The phylogenic relationships of Diploderma species ( D. iadinum , D. yulongense , and D. vela ) ( Wang et al, 2020 ). (B) Study area and sample collection sites.…”

Commensal microbiota and host metabolic divergence are associated with the adaptation of Diploderma vela to spatially heterogeneous environments

“…In this study, the heterogeneous environment adaptation was investigated for Diploderma vela, a typical narrow-ranging species restricted to the shrubland of Langcang River Valleys in the HMR (Wang et al 2019;Wang K et al 2020). It is assigned to Least Concern (LC) under IUCN guidelines (Rao 2019).…”