A molecular phylogeny of the African plated lizards, genus Gerrhosaurus Wiegmann, 1828 (Squamata: Gerrhosauridae), with the description of two new genera.

Zootaxa 3750 (5): 465–493. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3750.5.3   

Abstract:

We constructed a molecular phylogeny of the African plated lizard family Gerrhosauridae using two mitochondrial markers (ND2, 732 bp; 16S, 576 bp) and one nuclear marker (PRLR, 538 bp). This analysis showed that the subfamily Gerrhosaurinae consists of five major clades which we interpret as representing five genera. The genera Tetradactylus and Cordylosaurus were each recovered as monophyletic, but Gerrhosaurus as currently conceived is paraphyletic, consisting of three distinct genus-level assemblages. The two clades consisting of Gerrhosaurus major Duméril, 1851 and Gerrhosaurus validus Smith, 1849 are both described here as new genera, namely Broadleysaurus Bates & Tolley gen. nov. and Matobosaurus Bates & Tolley gen. nov., respectively. Two subspecies of ‘Gerrhosaurus major’ that were historically separated on the basis of differences in colour pattern are not reciprocally monophyletic, so Gerrhosaurus bottegoi Del Prato, 1895 is relegated to the synonomy of Broadleysaurus major (Duméril, 1851) comb. nov., which is rendered monotypic. Gerrhosaurus validus maltzahni De Grys, 1938 is genetically and morphologically well differentiated from G. v. validus and the two taxa also occur in allopatry. We therefore re-instate the former as Matobosaurus maltzahni (De Grys, 1938) comb. nov., rendering Matobosaurus validus (Smith, 1849) comb. nov. a monotypic species. Our analysis also showed that Gerrhosaurus sensu stricto comprises two major subclades, one consisting of Gerrhosaurus typicus (Smith, 1837) + Gerrhosaurus skoogi Andersson, 1916, and the other containing the remaining species. In this latter subclade we show that west-Central African Gerrhosaurus nigrolineatus Hallowell, 1857 is most closely related to Gerrhosaurus auritus Boettger, 1887 rather than to G. nigrolineatus from East and Southern Africa. The west-Central African clade of G. nigrolineatus differs from the East and Southern African clade by a p-distance of 13.0% (ND2) and 6.9% (16S), and can be differentiated morphologically. We accordingly apply the name Gerrhosaurus intermedius Lönnberg, 1907 comb. nov. to populations from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa previously identified under the name G. nigrolineatus. Our analysis also confirms that Gerrhosaurus bulsi Laurent, 1954 is a distinct species and sister taxon to a clade containing G. nigrolineatus, G. auritus and G. intermedius. The latter four taxa form a closely-related ‘G. nigrolineatus species complex’ with a widespread distribution in Africa. Most closely related to this complex of species is Gerrhosaurus flavigularis Wiegmann, 1828 which has an extensive range in East and Southern Africa, and displays genetic substructure which requires further investigation. The status of Gerrhosaurus multilineatus Bocage, 1866, and Angolan populations referred to G. nigrolineatus, remains problematic.

bates-biblio

Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae) Teil 1-3.

Abh. Senck. Natufor. Ges. 462-466. Frankfurt / Main.

1997 erschien die Abhandlung als Taschenbuch im Chimaira-Verlag.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Böhme, Bonn, hat eine ausführliche Übersicht der rezenten validen Arten und eine vergleichende Nomenklatur angefügt, so dass das Standardwerk von Mertens auch wieder einen hohen aktuellen Wert hat. Nachdem Teile des Werkes schon kurz nach Erscheinen wegen der hohen Nachfrage nachgedruckt wurden, sind die Teile 1 und 2 schon seit mehreren Jahren vergriffen und antiquarisch entsprechend teuer. Die Auflage ist numeriert und auf 500 Exemplare limitiert.

mertens-biblio

06.04.2013 - 1'838

Intellagama lesueurii (Gray, 1831), the correct binomial combination for the Australian Eastern Water Dragon (Sauria, Agamidae).

Zootaxa 3390: 65–67. ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition), ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition)

The Eastern Water Dragon is a large, conspicuous agamid, well known to many inhabitants of eastern Australia. It was first described in the scientific literature as Lophura lesueurii by Gray (1831). Gray’s allocation of this taxon to his earlier genus Lophura Gray, 1827, created for the species Lacerta lophura Shaw, 1802, does not mention that Cuvier (1829) had erected Istiurus for amboinensis Schlosser, 1768, which Cuvier treated as a senior synonym of Lophura.

Cuvier considered the generic name Lophura to be too similar to Lophyrus Latreille, 1802, a genus of conifer sawflies belonging to the family Diprionidae, hence the need for a new genus. Both Gray and Cuvier were evidently unaware that Lophura was unavailable as this name had already been assign ed to a genus of phasianid birds (Fleming 1822). The Eastern Water Dragon has subsequently appeared in the taxonomic literature under the following synonyms: Iguana paramatensis Fitzinger, 1843; Amphibolurus maculiferus Girard, 1857; Amphibolurus heterurus Peters, 1866 and Amphibolurus branchialis De Vis, 1884. The combination Physignathus lesueurii was first used in 1845 by Gray in his Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the British Museum and has been in use ever since. The only other generic name proposed for this taxon is Intellagama Wells and Wellington, 1985, by which the authors implied its distinctiveness from the other member of Physignathus,  the Chinese Water Dragon P. cocincinus Cuvier, 1829. However, as their description provided no evidence to demons trate that Australian water dragons are generically distinct from their foreign congener, this name has not been adopted by subsequent authors, and has been informally treated as a synonym of Physignathus. ....

Leguane - faszinierend und exotisch.

4. Auflage (1. Auflage 2003); 64 Seiten, zahlreiche Farbfotos von Christine Steimer

Verlag Graefe & Unzer GmbH, München. ISBN 978-3-7742-5758-9.

Verlagstext:

Filme wie Jurassic Park haben Echsen ins Bewusstsein vieler Menschen gebracht. Leguane faszinieren uns, denn sie erinnern an die Saurier aus längst vergangenen Zeiten. Verbunden mit dem Wunsch immer Ausgefalleneres besitzen zu wollen, sind Terrarientiere – und damit auch Leguane – heute “en vogue”. Mit der richtigen Pflege und Haltung zeigen sie vielfältige und interessante Verhaltensweisen und werden damit für Ihre Halter zum spannenden Beobachtungsobjekt. Dieser GU Tierratgeber vermittelt alles Wichtige rund um die Themen Einrichtung und Technik, Ernährung und Pflege – damit Sie Ihrem Leguan ein artgerechtes Leben bieten können.

Applications of Ecological Niche Modeling for Species Delimitation: A Review and Empirical Evaluation Using Day Geckos (Phelsuma) from Madagascar.

Systematic Biology 56 (6): 907 - 923. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10635150701775111

Abstract:

Although the systematic utility of ecological niche modeling is generally well known (e.g., concerning the recognition and discovery of areas of endemism for biogeographic analyses), there has been little discussion of applications concerning species delimitation, and to date, no empirical evaluation has been conducted. However, ecological niche modeling can provide compelling evidence for allopatry between populations, and can also detect divergent ecological niches between candidate species. Here we present results for two taxonomically problematic groups of Phelsuma day geckos from Madagascar, where we integrate ecological niche modeling with mitochondrial DNA and morphological data to evaluate species limits. Despite relatively modest levels of genetic and morphological divergence, for both species groups we find divergent ecological niches between closely related species and parapatric ecological niche models. Niche models based on the new species limits provide a better fit to the known distribution than models based upon the combined (lumped) species limits. Based on these results, we elevate three subspecies of Phelsuma madagascariensis (P. m. madagascariensis, P. m. grandis, and P. m. kochi) to species rank and describe a new species of Phelsuma from the P. dubia species group. Our phylogeny continues to support a major endemic radiation of Phelsuma in Madagascar, with dispersals to Pemba Island and the Mascarene Islands. We conclude that ecological niche modeling offers great potential for species delimitation, especially for taxonomic groups exhibiting low vagility and localized endemism and for groups with more poorly known distributions. In particular, niche modeling should be especially sensitive for detecting recent parapatric speciation driven by ecological divergence, when the environmental gradients driving speciation are represented within the ecological niche models.

Initiative zum Schutz der Chinesischen Krokodilschwanz-Höckerechse.

ZGAP-Mitteilungen 25, Heft 2: 28.

Inhalt:

Es wird über Fortschritte im Schutzprojekt im autonomen Gebiet Guanxi der VR China berichtet. In der Zuchtstation im Daguishan-Naturschutzgebiet werden Zuchtgruppen in 12 großen Freilandterarien gehalten. Mit der Betreiberfirma einer Farm konnte eine Vereinbarung über den Schutz bestimmter Habitate getroffen werden.

First F2 Breeding of the Quince Monitor Lizard Varanus melinus Böhme & Ziegler, 1997 at the Cologne Zoo Aquarium.

Biawak, 4(3), pp. 82-92 © 2010 by International Varanid Interest Group

Abstract:

We report the first breeding of the quince monitor lizard Varanus melinus in a European
Zoo, which at the same time represents to our knowledge the first F2 breeding of the species in
general. In June 2009, a clutch containing nine eggs was produced at the Aquarium of the Cologne
Zoo by a V. melinus pair received seven years earlier as offspring from a private breeder. Two of these
eggs showed no development and one egg contained dead conjoined twins. Six offspring with weights
of 33-35 g (mean 34 g) and total lengths of 266-281 mm (mean 274 mm) finally hatched in December
2009 from eggs measuring 47.1-58.6 mm (mean 54.0 mm) x 32.0-36.0 mm (mean 34.2 mm) in size,
after 164–166 (mean 164.8) days of incubation at 29° C. A second clutch comprised of five eggs was
laid in September 2009, about three months after the deposition of the first clutch. Two of these eggs
showed no development and one egg contained a dead, slightly malformed embryo. Two V. melinus
subsequently hatched from this second clutch in February 2010 after 164–165 days of incubation
at 29° C. We compare our data with previously published information on the successful breeding
of the species. All eight V. melinus hatched at the Cologne Zoo are developing well, and some will
be subsequently provided for conservation breeding projects. Because this attractive species seems
to play an important role in the international animal trade, and due to only very few husbandry
and breeding reports available, we herewith intend to encourage the conservation breeding of this
monitor lizard and to add to the scarce knowledge of the natural history of this beautiful species
through both ex situ zoo breeding efforts and in situ population research, to finally contribute to
improved conservation measures.

ziegler-biblio

16.03.2013 - 1'179

Erstmalige Nachzucht des Mindanao-Bindenwarans (Varanus salvator cumingi) im Zoologischen Garten Frankfurt/Main.

Monitor 3 (1):41. Offenbach, 1994.

Die Warane.

Die Neue Brehm Bücherei Bd. 325.
75 Seiten, 27 s/w-Fotos, 14 Zeichnungen.
A. Ziemsen Verlag, Wittenberg Lutherstadt.

Verlagstext:

Wenn auch einzelne Arten der Warane schon von Herodot und den alten Ägyptern genannt wurden, so blieben sie doch durch viele Jahrhunderte fast unbekannt. Auch Linné führt in seinem Natursystem nur eine Art an. In der Folgezeit befaßten sich nur wenige Naturforscher näher mit dieser Tiergruppe. Nachdem 1812 auf einer der Kleinen Sundainseln der riesige Komodowaran entdeckt wurde, rückte die Familie der Warane in das Blickfeld der zoologischen Wissenschaft. Die Warane gehören mit den Echsen und Schlangen zu den Sauriern, deren älteste Vorfahren schon aus der Formation des Rotliegenden im Erdaltertum bekannt sind. Verwandte der rezenten Waranarten sind in fossilen Resten aus dem Tertiär in Europa, Amerika und Australien gefunden worden. Heute leben Warane in Asien, Afrika, Australien und Ozeanien in den verschiedensten Biotopen. Viele Arten leben auf trockenem Land, manche amphibisch, andere haben sich in ihren Gliedmaßen und mit einem Greifschwanz an das Baumleben angepaßt. Die großen Waranarten ernähren sich meist von lebenden Wirbeltieren, die kleinen auch von Insekten und anderen Wirbellosen. Ihre Eier werden in die Erde oder in Höhlen verscharrt; sie brauchen dort mehrere Monate zu ihrer Entwicklung. Um der Mode willen wurden Warane zeitweise in Massen vernichtet, da ihre Haut ein begehrtes Material zur Herstellung von Handtaschen und dergleichen war. Der Verfasser hat an gefangenen Waranen - freilebend sind sie schwer zugänglich - jahrelang jede Lebensäußerung beobachtet. Ihrer Haltung und Pflege und den dabei gemachten Erfahrungen wird ein breiter Raum gewidmet.

Rösler, H.; Ziegler, T., Vu, N.T.; Herrmann, H.-W. & Böhme, W. (2004).

A new lizard of the genus Gekko Laurenti, 1768 (Squamata: Sauria: Gekkonidae) from the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam.

Bonner Zool. Beiträge  53 (1/2): 135-148.

Betrifft Gekko scientiadventura, so benannt nach dem von Wolf von Lojewski moderierten ZDF-Magazin "Abenteuer Wissen", in dem die Art der Öffentlichkeit vorgestellt wurde.

Abstract:

PDF Download available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261134013_A_new_lizard_of_the_genus_Gekko_Laurenti_1768_Squamata_Sauria_Gekkonidae_from_the_Phong_Nha-Ke_Bang_National_Park_Quang_Binh_Province_Vietnam [accessed Aug 2, 2017].