Uncovered genetic diversity in Hemidactylus mabouia (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Madeira Island reveals uncertain sources of introduction

Rato, Catarina; Martins, Beatriz; Rocha, Ricardo; Silva-Rocha, Iolanda

doi:10.1163/15685381-bja10052

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The Balearic Islands appear as a striking example of a region marked by several faunal introductions across time; this archipelago that once harboured substantial levels of endemicity, now hosts more alien than native reptile and amphibian taxa reviewed in 55 , 56 . The same occurs nowadays in Madeira Island, where there is a single endemic lizard species ( Teira dugesii ), surpassed by two introduced geckos, Hemidactylus mabouia , and Tarentola mauritanica 10 , 34 , 57 , one snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus; 58 ), and one allochthonous skink (Chioninia fogoensis; 59 ). Hence, it is clear that although largely sedentary, reptiles are frequently introduced by humans, many times during transport of building material, soil or cultivated plants 4 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Unfortunately, we are many times faced with very low genetic diversity and shallow divergence patterns when studying introduced populations originated from either human introductions or very recent natural colonization events, precluding the assessment of the ultimate geographic origin of the source e.g., 8 – 10 . Hence, the need to use faster evolving genomic regions such as simple sequence repeats (SSRs) or commonly referred to as microsatellites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Colonization routes uncovered in a widely introduced Mediterranean gecko, Tarentola mauritanica

Rato,

Deso,

Renet

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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In this study, we aimed to understand the contemporary and ancient colonization routes of the Moorish gecko, Tarentola mauritanica, using simple sequence repeats. By analyzing the genetic diversity of populations in different regions, we found that Morocco is the genetic diversity hotspot for the species, followed by the Iberian Peninsula. However, historical gene flow estimates identified the Iberian Peninsula, not Morocco, as the primary contributor of colonizing individuals, along with continental Italy to a lesser extent. Currently, mainland Italy is the main source of introduced individuals, likely due to the plant nursery trade. The study suggests that human-facilitated introductions from various geographical origins, with numerous regions colonized through continental Italy during two distinct periods, are responsible for the recurrent entry of individuals belonging to the European lineage of T. mauritanica into the Mediterranean and Macaronesia. These findings can inform better monitoring surveys and conservation programs by identifying putative current colonization routes of alien species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colonization routes uncovered in a widely introduced Mediterranean gecko, Tarentola mauritanica

Rato,

Deso,

Renet

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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“…Banana plantations and vineyards occupy most of the island's agricultural area, and both crops are known to be affected by a large array of invertebrate pests (Ribeiro et al, 2009). Madeira was an important center for commerce connecting Europe to the New World and as such many animals and plant species were introduced to the archipelago, among which were new competitors, predators and parasites (Press, 1993;Wetterer et al, 2007;Seixas et al, 2019;Clemens and Allain, 2020;Rocha et al, 2020;Rato et al, 2021).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Funchal but it now inhabits most of the island's south coast (Rato et al, 2021;Silva-Rocha et al, 2022). Furthermore, it has colonized the nearby island of Porto Santo (Jesus et al, 2008) and, according to its bioclimatic and environmental affinities, it is likely to further expand its range in Madeira, including some areas of the northern coast of the island, where it has not yet been recorded (Silva-Rocha et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic interactions of an invasive gecko in an endemic-rich oceanic island: Insights using DNA metabarcoding

et al. 2022

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Understanding the trophic interactions of introduced predators is key for evidence-based management of biological invasions. This is particularly important in oceanic islands, where predator-prey networks often include numerous endemic and range-restricted species. Geckos are successful island colonizers and in recent years numerous species have established populations in a wide array of oceanic islands. One such species is the Moorish gecko (Tarentola mauritanica), which has colonized multiple islands across the Mediterranean basin, Caribbean and Macaronesia. The species was first reported in Madeira Island in 1993 and over the last 30 years has colonized most of the islands' southern coast and expanded to the nearby island of Porto Santo. Here, we used DNA metabarcoding to provide the first insights into the diet of this successful colonizer in its introduced range. The species' diet was mainly composed of ground-dwelling arthropods belonging to the families Porcellionidae (Isopoda), Julidae (Diplopoda) and Formicidae (Hymenoptera). The diet richness and composition were not affected by neither sex nor size of adult geckos, instead they both change across populations. However, trophic niche-width differed among size classes, with smaller geckos feeding on a wider range of prey. We identified over 160 different Operational Taxonomic Units in the diet of T. mauritanica, with 21.6% of them belonging to introduced invertebrates and 13.6% to native species. Native prey taxa included the endemic Madeira wall lizard (Teira dugesii), the sole native reptile to Madeira. We also detected several agricultural pests and disease vectors in the diet of this exotic predator, and 19 taxa identified as prey had not yet been recorded to Madeira. Of these, several are serious agricultural pests, highlighting how this introduced gecko can be used as a natural sampler, in particular for the early detection of invasive arthropod pests. This study emphasizes the importance of trophic studies for monitoring the impacts of introduced predators in fragile insular systems.

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“…Recent research on Hemidactylus has focused primarily on taxonomy and systematics (e.g. Ceriaco et al, 2020; Smid et al, 2020; 2023; Lobon-Rovira et al, 2021; Adhikari et al, 2022; Das et al,2022; Pal & Mirza, 2022; Khandekar et al, 2023; Narayanan et al, 2023), with fewer studies on biogeography (Lajmi et al, 2019; Murdoch, 2022), diversification (Lajmi & Karanth, 2020; Luzete et al, 2022), invasive potential and dispersal ecology (Agarwal et al, 2021; Rato et al, 2021; Lamb et al,2021; Lapwong et al, 2021), and ectoparasite biology (Borroto-Páez et al, 2020; Diaz et al, 2020). Although many of these studies involve phylogenetic reconstructions, they are mostly localized.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Globetrotting geckos: Historical biogeography suggests an Indian origin and “Out-Of-India” dispersal for the cosmopolitanHemidactylusgeckos

Agashe,

Biswas,

Karanth

2024

Preprint

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Aim – Following the breakup of Gondwana dispersal events both into and out of India have influenced the biotic assembly of the surrounding landmasses. The cosmopolitan Hemidactylus presents an intriguing group to examine these instances, particularly given its sister relationship with the endemic Dravidogecko found in India′s Western Ghats. Despite earlier theories of Afro–Arabian or Southeast Asian origins for Hemidactylus, its deep divergence from Dravidogecko (~57 million years ago) suggests a potential Indian origin, thus contradicting an ″Into–India″ scenario proposed for the current Indian tetrapod groups. We thus aim to resolve the origins and shed light on the inter–continental dispersals in Hemidactylus by reconstructing its biogeographic history. Location – Worldwide Taxon – Hemidactylus Geckos Methods – We use six nuclear genes to reconstruct a reduced representation backbone phylogeny of Hemidactylus using likelihood, Bayesian, and coalescent based methods. We further assemble a timetree using a concatenated dataset of nuclear and mitochondrial markers from 132 of the 192 Hemidactylus species by constraining the topology with the backbone phylogeny and secondary calibrations. We use this chronogram to reconstruct ancestral geographic ranges using BioGeoBEARS, employing a time-stratified approach in conjunction with plate tectonics information to explicitly test four hypotheses regarding the origin of the genus — An Indian origin, a Southeast Asian origin, a Saharo–Arabian origin, or an Afrotropical origin. Results – Our findings suggest that the ancestral lineage of Hemidactylus and Dravidogecko colonized the drifting Indian plate from Southeast Asia approximately 57 million years ago, eventually evolving into the two genera in the Indian subcontinent. Following this, Hemidactylus dispersed multiple times from India to Africa and Asia. Main Conclusion – This study proposes an Indian origin for these widely distributed geckos, representing a rare instance of an ″Out–of–India″ dispersal scenario observed in a non–Gondwanan squamate group. Additionally, our research underscores the significance of incorporating sister taxa in biogeographic analyses to avoid misinterpretations of ancestral ranges.

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Uncovered genetic diversity in Hemidactylus mabouia (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Madeira Island reveals uncertain sources of introduction

Cited by 7 publications

References 18 publications

Colonization routes uncovered in a widely introduced Mediterranean gecko, Tarentola mauritanica

Colonization routes uncovered in a widely introduced Mediterranean gecko, Tarentola mauritanica

Trophic interactions of an invasive gecko in an endemic-rich oceanic island: Insights using DNA metabarcoding

Globetrotting geckos: Historical biogeography suggests an Indian origin and “Out-Of-India” dispersal for the cosmopolitanHemidactylusgeckos

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