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| Sphaerodactylus from Puerto Rico and islands on the Puerto Rican Bank. Sphaerodactylus macrolepis species complex (excluding S. parvus). Sphaerodactylus macrolepis (square); S. grandisquamis (circle); S. inigoi (diamond).
in Daza, Pinto, Thomas, ... et Gamble. 2019.
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Abstract
Studies of the Caribbean herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles) have made significant contributions to our knowledge of evolutionary patterns and processes. A prerequisite for these studies are accurate taxonomies and robust phylogenetic hypotheses. One notable Caribbean radiation lacking such data are dwarf geckos of the genus Sphaerodactylus. Systematics of the Puerto Rican Sphaerodactylus have been turbulent since the initial species descriptions and no molecular phylogenies exist that include complete or near-complete taxon sampling. Here, we combine a multi-locus molecular phylogeny with extensive morphological information to investigate the current diversity of Sphaerodactylus geckos from the Puerto Rican Bank, with a large number of species from Hispaniola as an outgroup. In particular, we focus our efforts on resolving the taxonomy of the Sphaerodactylus macrolepis Günther species complex. We find S. macrolepis sensu lato (currently two nominal species with nine subspecies) is made up of at least four diagnosable species within two clades: (1) the sister species Sphaerodactylus macrolepis sensu stricto from the Virgin Islands (including St. Croix) and Culebra, and S. parvus King from islands in the northern Lesser Antilles; and (2) all other Sphaerodactylus macrolepis subspecies from Puerto Rico, Vieques, and Culebra. We resurrect Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis Stejneger from synonymy to refer to all subspecies from Puerto Rico and elevate the subspecies Sphaerodactylus inigoi Thomas & Schwartz for geckos from Vieques and western Culebra. The resulting phylogeny and revised taxonomy will be a useful tool for subsequent research into Sphaerodactylus conservation and evolution.
Keywords: Reptilia, biogeography, Caribbean, Hispaniola, lizard, morphology, Puerto Rico, taxonomy, species delimitation, Squamata, Virgin Islands
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| Sampling localities and approximate distributions for select species of Sphaerodactylus from Puerto Rico and islands on the Puerto Rican Bank. Different shaped symbols are used for each species. A. Sphaerodactylus macrolepis species complex (excluding S. parvus). Sphaerodactylus macrolepis (square); S. grandisquamis (circle); S. inigoi (diamond). |
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| Phylogeny and biogeography of sampled Sphaerodactylus geckos. |
Sphaerodactylus parvus King, 1962
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis sensu stricto Günther, 1859
Sphaerodactylus inigoi comb. nov. Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis grandisquamis Stejneger, 1904
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis guarionex comb. nov. Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis ateles comb. nov. Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis mimetes comb. nov. Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis spanius comb. nov. Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis stibarus comb. nov. Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
A Checklist to the Sphaerodactylus of Puerto Rico and Nearby Islands
Sphaerodactylus beattyi Grant, 1937
Sphaerodactylus beattyi beattyi Grant, 1937
Sphaerodactylus beattyi seamani Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus gaigeae Grant, 1932
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis Stejneger, 1904
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis grandisquamis Stejneger, 1904
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis guarionex Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis ateles Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis mimetes Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis spanius Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis stibarus Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus inigoi Thomas & Schwartz, 1966
Sphaerodactylus klauberi Grant, 1931
Sphaerodactylus levinsi Heatwole, 1968
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis Günther, 1859
Sphaerodactylus micropithecus Schwartz, 1977
Sphaerodactylus monensis Meerwarth, 1901
Sphaerodactylus nicholsi Grant, 1931
Sphaerodactylus parthenopion Thomas, 1965
Sphaerodactylus roosevelti Grant, 1931
Sphaerodactylus townsendi Grant, 1931
Juan D. Daza, Brendan J. Pinto, Richard Thomas, Alexandra Herrera-Martinez, Daniel P. Scantlebury, Luis F. Padilla García, Rajesh P. Balaraman, Gad Perry and Tony Gamble. 2019. The Sprightly Little Sphaerodactyl: Systematics and Biogeography of the Puerto Rican Dwarf Geckos Sphaerodactylus (Gekkota, Sphaerodactylidae). Zootaxa. 4712(2); 151–201. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4712.2.1