Long-distance colonization and radiation in gekkonid lizards, Tarentola (Reptilia: Gekkonidae), revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences

Morphological systematics makes it clear that many non-volant animal groups have undergone extensive transmarine dispersal with subsequent radiation in new, often island, areas. However, details of such events are often lacking. Here we use partial DNA sequences derived from the mitochondrial cytoch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
Main Authors: Carranza, Salvador, Arnold, E. N., Mateo, José Antonio, López-Jurado, L. F.
Other Authors: 6603678813, 7202888127, 7102972563, 6603237373
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10553/19921
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2000.1050
Description
Summary:Morphological systematics makes it clear that many non-volant animal groups have undergone extensive transmarine dispersal with subsequent radiation in new, often island, areas. However, details of such events are often lacking. Here we use partial DNA sequences derived from the mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12S rRNA genes (up to 684 and 320 bp, respectively) to trace migration and speciation in Tarentola geckos, a primarily North African clade which has invaded many of the warmer islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. There were four main invasions of archipelagos presumably by rafting.