Taxonomic reassessment and phylogenetic placement of Cyrtodactylus phuketensis (Reptilia, Gekkonidae) based on morphological and molecular evidence

Abstract

The taxonomy and phylogeny of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex along the Thai-Malay Peninsular region has been the focus of many recent studies and has resulted in the recognition of 17 species. However, the majority of these studies were focused on Peninsular and insular Malaysia where there were specimens and genetic vouchers. The taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of the Thai species in this complex remain unresolved, due to the lack of genetic material of some species, especially C. phuketensis and C. macrotuberculatus from Thai populations. In this study, we investigated the phylogenetic relationship between C. phuketensis and its closely related species C. macrotuberculatus, using both morphometric and molecular data. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) gene revealed that C. phuketensis is embedded within a C. macrotuberculatus clade with 1.45–4.20% (mean 2.63%) uncorrected pairwise sequence divergences. Morphological comparisons showed nearly identical measurements of C. phuketensis and C. macrotuberculatus and overlapping ranges in meristic characters. Based on these data, C. phuketensis is considered to be a variant of C. macrotuberculatus, thus rendering C. phuketensis a junior synonym of C. macrotuberculatus.

A new insular species of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus group (Reptilia, Gekkonidae) from Tarutao Island, southern Thailand revealed by morphological and genetic evidence

“…Moreover, the presence of precloacal pores were found in females of C. stellatus sp. nov., which has not been reported in the other species (Grismer et al 2012;Quah et al 2019;Wood et al 2020, Termprayoon et al 2021.…”

“…In addition, we found that the reported sampling localities of C. lekaguli (ZMKU R 00720-00723) were incorrectly stated as "Thailand, Changwat Province, Takua Pa District, Phangnga" in previous studies (i.e., Grismer et al 2016;Quah et al 2019;Wood et al 2020, Termprayoon et al 2021. Therefore, we corrected the sampling localities to "Thailand, Phang-nga Province, Mueang Phang-nga District" (see Table 1).…”

“…The name corresponds with the sister taxon C. astrum that shared similar diagnostic character (scattered light-colored tubercles pattern on dorsum). Some information was collected from the following literature (Grismer et al 2012(Grismer et al , 2014(Grismer et al , 2016Quah et al 2019, Wood et al 2020, and Termprayoon et al 2021. [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]…”

“…Cyrtodactylus pulchellus Gray, 1827 was thought to be a single wide-ranging species across their distributional range, but following an integrative approach many new species have been described (e.g., C. bintangrendah , C. langkawiensis Grismer et al, 2012, and C. sharkari Grismer et al, 2014. This species group has been recovered as monophyletic and currently contains 16 recognized species, based on multiple phylogenetic studies (Grismer et al 2012(Grismer et al , 2014(Grismer et al , 2016Quah et al 2019;Wood et al 2020;Termprayoon et al 2021). This group is distributed from the south of the Isthmus of Kra, southern Thailand to southern Peninsular Malaysia and some of its offshore islands (Grismer and Ahmad 2008;Sumontha et al 2012;Grismer et al 2012Grismer et al , 2014Grismer et al , 2016Quah et al 2019;Wood et al 2020;Termprayoon et al 2021).…”

“…This species group has been recovered as monophyletic and currently contains 16 recognized species, based on multiple phylogenetic studies (Grismer et al 2012(Grismer et al , 2014(Grismer et al , 2016Quah et al 2019;Wood et al 2020;Termprayoon et al 2021). This group is distributed from the south of the Isthmus of Kra, southern Thailand to southern Peninsular Malaysia and some of its offshore islands (Grismer and Ahmad 2008;Sumontha et al 2012;Grismer et al 2012Grismer et al , 2014Grismer et al , 2016Quah et al 2019;Wood et al 2020;Termprayoon et al 2021). During field surveys, specimens of the C. pulchellus group were collected from Tarutao Island, Satun Province, southern Thailand.…”