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Issue: Vol. 4276 No. 3: 13 Jun. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-06-13
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4276.3.3
Page range: 357–386
Abstract views: 270
PDF downloaded: 1

Systematic revision of Acanthodactylus busacki (Squamata: Lacertidae) with a description of a new species from Morocco

The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel-Aviv, Israel Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
EPHE, PSL Research University, CNRS, UM, SupAgro, IRD, INRA, UMR 5175 Centre d’Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (CEFE), F-34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigacão em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, R. Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France
Reptilia Atlas Mountains evolution lizards pardalis species-group phylogeny taxonomy

Abstract

Recent molecular phylogenies of the Acanthodactylus pardalis species-group have revealed a deep genetic divergence within the nominal species A. busacki from north-west Africa. The species is phylogenetically separated into northern and southern lineages, which correspond to a previously observed morphological differentiation between the northern and southern populations of this species. Based on morphological comparisons of the type material and location of the type locality, the nomen Acanthodactylus busacki Salvador, 1982 is assigned here to the southern lineage, known from the northern Saharan Atlantic coastal desert. The northern lineage, described here as Acanthodactylus margaritae sp. nov., is prominently characterized by weakly keeled dorsal scales and a characteristic colour pattern. The new species is endemic to Morocco and confined to arid and semi-arid bioclimatic areas between the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains, from around Tamri in the north to Tiznit in the south and the Souss valley in the east.

 

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