Cytotaxonomy and DNA taxonomy of lizards (Squamata, Sauria) from a tropical dry forest in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve on the coast of Jalisco, Mexico
Author
Castiglia, Riccardo
Author
Annesi, Flavia
Author
Bezerra, Alexandra M. R.
Author
García, Andrés
Author
Flores-Villela, Oscar
text
Zootaxa
2010
2508
1
29
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.196005
4a013300-d475-4db9-a5cf-bff30510ac4a
1175-5326
196005
Aspidoscelis communis
Cope
(Colima giant whiptail)
Specimen analysed:
two specimens (CEAC 26, CEAC30).
Distribution:
Mexican endemic, distributed along the Pacific coast from Jalisco to Michoacán.
Subspecies:
Aspidoscelis communis mariarum
(Günther)
and
Aspidoscelis communis communis
(Cope)
.
Karyotype:
the karyotype of this species was reported by
Lowe
et al.
(1970)
as 2n = 46 and it was not studied again in the present study.
DNA taxonomy:
the phylogenetic position of this species has not previously been ascertained using molecular markers and sequences of this species are not present in GenBank. We aligned the rDNA 16S sequences with all the so far studied
Aspidoscelis
species obtained from GenBank (39 sequences). A partial tree is shown in
Figure 14
. The phylogenetic analysis indicate that
A. communis
belongs to the “
sexlineata
” group (bootstrap support 92–97%). This confirms the affinities found on morphological and chromosomal ground (
Reeder
et al.
2002
). In particular, it is included in a clade with
A. burti
,
A. costatus
and
A. gularis
but the relationships within this clade are supported only by NJ (61%) and MP (54%). Genetic divergence within this group is relatively low, ranging from 1.1 to 5.6%.