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
Sceloporus utiformis
Cope
(Cope's largescale spiny lizard)
Specimens analysed:
three males (CEAC 12, CEAC13, CAEC14)
Distribution:
Mexican endemic. It is distributed along the Pacific slope from southern Sinaloa to western Guerrero.
Subspecies:
no subspecies have been described.
Karyotype and DNA taxonomy:
the karyotype for this species has been described from two specimens, one male and one female, both from Jalisco in a locality (northwest of Puerto Los Mazos) about 70 Km from Chamela (
Cole 1971
). The diploid number was 2n = 34 and the male carried a heteromorphic pair of microchromomes that were not present in the female. This polymorphism has been interpreted as a XY sex chromosomal system (
Cole 1971
). The specimens analysed in this study show a karyotype identical to the one previously reported (
Fig. 7
). It is composed of 12 biarmed chromosomes and 22 microchromosomes. In these male individuals one of the microchromosomes is very small. Therefore we confirm the presence of a XY sex chromosome system in this species.
The rDNA 16S has been studied for a single specimen from Jalisco (Boca de Iguanas), which is near the locality for specimens in the present study (
Wiens & Reeder 1997
;
Flores-Villela
et al.
2000
). The from Chamela differ by 3% from the previous studied sample, which is a low value of divergence consistent with an intraspecific divergence.