Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2008-05-28
Page range: 59–68
Abstract views: 145
PDF downloaded: 3

New species of Gekko (Squamata: Sauria: Gekkonidae) from China: morphological and molecular evidence

Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210046, China
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210046, China
Reptilia Gekko wenxianensis sp. nov. Gekkonidae Northwest China description molecular study

Abstract

A new species of Gekko is described from the south slope of the west Qinling Mts in Gansu, China. Gekko wenxianensis, sp. nov., is characterized by its nostril-rostral contact, moderate sized body with dorsal tubercles extending from the occiput and temporal region to the back and tail base, but lacking on the forelimb and thigh, 6–8 precloacal pores in a continuous series in males, and tail generally with two cloacal spurs on each side. Molecular phylogenetic analyses using 1556 bp of mtDNA (825 bp COI and 731 bp cyt b) from 7 species of Gekko indicate that the new species is the sister taxon of G. japonicus. It is the twelfth species of Gekko recorded from China.

References

  1. Bauer, A.M., Sumontha, M. & Pauwels, O.S.G. (2003) Two new species of Cyrtodactylus (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Thailand. Zootaxa, 376, 1–18.

    Farris, J.S., Kaellersjo, M., Kluge, A.G. & Bults, C. (1995) Testing significance of incongruence. Cladistics, 10, 315–319.

    Felsenstein, J. (1985) Confidence limits on phylogenies: an approach using the bootstrap. Evolution, 39, 783–791.

    Feng, J.Y., Han, D.M., Bauer, A.M. & Zhou, K.Y. (2007) Interrelationships among gekkonid geckos inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences. Zoological Science, 24, 656–665.

    Hajbabaei, M., Janzen, D.H., Burns, J.M., Hallwachs, W. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2006) DNA barcodes distinguish species of tropical Lepidoptera. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 103, 968–971.

    Han, D.M., Zhou, K.Y. & Bauer, A.M. (2004) Phylogenetic relationships among gekkotan lizards inferred from C-mos nuclear DNA sequences and a new classification of the Gekkota. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 83, 353–368.

    Hebert, P.D.N., Cywinska, A., Ball, S.L. & deWaard, J.R. (2003) Biological identifications through DNA barcodes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences, 270, 313–321.

    Huelsenbeck, J.P. & Ronquist, F.P. (2001) MRBAYES: Bayesian inference of phylogenetic trees. Bioinformatics, 17, 754–755.

    Kimura, M. (1980) A simple method for estimating evolutionary rate of base substitutions through comparative studies of nucleotide sequences. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 16, 111–120.

    Kluge, A.G. (2001) Gekkotan lizard taxonomy. Hamadryad, 26, 1–209.

    Kon, T., Yoshino, T., Mukai, T. & Nishida, M. (2007) DNA sequences identify numerous cryptic species of the vertebrate: A lesson from the gobioid fish Schindleria. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 44, 53–62.

    Kumazawa, Y. & Endo, H. (2004) Mitochondrial genome of the Komodo dragon: Efficient sequencing method with reptile-oriented primers and novel gene rearrangements. DNA Research, 11, 115–125.

    Ljubisavljević, K., Arribas, O., DÒukić, G. & Carranza, S. (2007) Genetic and morphological differentiation of Mosor rock lizards, Dinarolacerta mosorensis (Kolombatović, 1886), with the description of a new species from the Prokletije Mountain Massif (Montenegro) (Squamata: Lacertidae). Zootaxa, 1613, 1–22.

    Oliver, P., Hugall, A., Adams, M., Cooper, S.J.B. & Hutchinson, M. (2007) Genetic elucidation of cryptic and ancient diversity in a group of Australian diplodactyline geckos: The Diplodactylus vittatus complex. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 44, 77–88.

    Palumbi, S.R., Martin, A., Romano, S., McMillan, W.O., Stice, L. & Grabowski, G. (1991) The Simple Fool’s Guide to PCR, Version 2.0. Privately published document complied by S. Palumbi, Department Zoology, University Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, 96822.

    Posada, D. & Crandall, K.A. (1998) Modeltest: testing the model of DNA substitution. Bioinformatics, 14, 817–818.

    Rösler, H. & Tiedemann, F. (2007) Gekko melli Vogt, 1922 and its types (Reptilia, Sauria, Gekkonidae). Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Zoologische Reihe, 83, Supplement, 105–108.

    Savolainen, V., Cowan, R.S., Vogler, A.P., Roderick, G.K. & Lane, R. (2005) Towards writing the encyclopedia of life: an introduction to DNA barcoding. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences, 360, 1805–1811.

    Song, M.T. (1985) A new species of Gekko from Shaanxi. Acta Herpetologica Sinica, 4, 329–330.

    Sorenson, M.D. & Fleischer, R.C. (1996) Multiple independent transpositions of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences to the nucleus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 93, 15239–15243.

    Swofford, D.L. (2002) PAUP*: Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (*and Other Methods), Version 4.0b10a. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

    Swofford, D.L., Olsen, G.J., Waddel, P.J. & Hillis, D.M. (1996) Phylogenetic inference. In: Molecular Systematics (eds Hillis, D.M., Moritz, C., Mable, B.K.), Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts, pp. 407–514.

    Tanaka-Ueno, T., Matusui, M., Sato, T., Takenaka, S. & Takenaka, O. (1998) Phylogenetic relationships of brown frogs with 24 chromosomes from Far East Russia and Hokkaido assessed by mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences (Rana: Ranidae). Zoological Science, 15, 289–294.

    Thompson, J.D., Gibson, T.J., Plewniak, F., Jeanmougin, F. & Higgins, D.G. (1997) The clustal_x windows interface: flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tool. Nucleic Acids Research, 24, 4876–4882.

    Zhang, D.X. & Hewitt, G.M. (1996) Nuclear integrations: challenges for mitochondrial DNA markers. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 11, 247–251.

    Zhao, E.M., Zhao, K.T. & Zhou, K.Y. (1999) Fauna Sinica, Reptile Vol. 2, Squamata, Lacertilia. Science Press, Beijing, 394 pp.

    Zhou, K.Y., Liu, Y.Z. & Li, D.J. (1982) Three new species of Gekko and remarks on Gekko hokouensis. Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 4, 438–446.

    Zhou, K.Y., Li, H.D., Han, D.M., Bauer, A.M. & Feng, J.Y. (2006) The complete mitochondrial genome of Gekko gecko (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) and support for the monophyly of Sauria including Amphisbaenia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 40, 887–892.