Effective biodiversity conservation planning starts with genetic characterization within and among focal populations, in order to understand the likely impact of threats for ensuring the long-term ...viability of a species. The Wonder Gecko, Teratoscincus keyserlingii, is one of nine members of the genus. This species is distributed in Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, with a small isolated population in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where it is classified nationally as Critically Endangered. Within its Arabian range, anthropogenic activity is directly linked to the species' decline, with highly localised and severely fragmented populations. Here we describe the evolutionary history of Teratoscincus, by reconstructing its phylogenetic relationships and estimating its divergence times and ancestral biogeography. For conservation implications of T. keyserlingii we evaluate the genetic structure of the Arabian population using genomic data. This study supports the monophyly of most species and reveals considerable intraspecific variability in T. microlepis and T. keyserlingii, which necessitate broad systematic revisions. The UAE population of T. keyserlingii likely arrived from southern Iran during the Pleistocene and no internal structure was recovered within, implying a single population status. Regional conservation of T. keyserlingii requires improved land management and natural habitat restoration in the species' present distribution, and expansion of current protected areas, or establishment of new areas with suitable habitat for the species, mostly in northern Abu Dhabi Emirate.
The agamid Pseudotrapelus lizards inhabit the mountainous areas of the Arabian Peninsula and eastern North Africa. Currently six Pseudotrapelus species are recognised, though diagnostic morphological ...characters are still lacking, creating great difficulty in describing new species. Recently, two specimens of Pseudotrapelus were collected from the vicinity of Riyadh in central Saudi Arabia, an area that was not sampled in previous phylogenetic studies. In here we used both mitochondrial and nuclear data to investigate the phylogenetic position of the new samples, and assess their phylogenetic relationships with the other recognised species of Pseudotrapelus from across the distribution range of the genus. We used a multilocus approach of haplotype networks, concatenated datasets and species trees, performed mitochondrial and nuclear species delimitation analyses, and estimated divergence times. In general, our results support previous molecular studies and uncover the presence of cryptic diversity within Pseudotrapelus. The phylogenetic structure of the genus is of two major clades and within them seven distinct, delimited phylogenetic groups belonging to the six recognised species and the seventh to the individuals from Riyadh. The Riyadh specimens were distinct in all analyses performed. We suggest that the new specimens from the Riyadh area are a distinct lineage, forming a clade with their phylogenetic relatives, P. sinaitus and P. chlodnickii. The clade formed by these three species diverged during the Late Miocene around 6.4 Ma, with cladogenesis possibly facilitated by vicariance and isolation caused due to climatic fluctuations and the progression of sandy areas. Our results suggest further morphological research is necessary to revise the taxonomic status of this lineage and of the entire genus.
The colubrid snakes of the genus
are seldom studied and knowledge of their ecology and life history is scarce. Three species of
are currently recognized,
(from Turkey eastwards to Iran),
(Yemen and ...Oman), and
(from the Sinai Peninsula northwards to Turkey). All are slender, secretive, mainly nocturnal and rare fossorial snakes. This comprehensive study is the first to sample all known
species in order to review the intra-generic phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of the genus.
We revised the systematics of
using an integrative approach and evaluated its phylogeography. The phylogenetic position within the Colubridae and the phylogenetic relationships within the genus were inferred using 29 individuals belonging to the three known species, with additional sampling of two other closely-related genera,
and
. We analysed three mitochondrial (
,
) and one nuclear (
) gene fragments. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods; the latter method also used to provide the first time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of the genus. We generated a nuclear network and carried out a topology test and species delimitation analysis. Morphological comparisons were used to differentiate among species and to describe a new species from Israel. The studied material was comprised of 108 alcohol-preserved specimens, 15 photographs, and data from the literature for the examination of 17 mensural, 14 meristic, and two categorical characters.
The molecular results support
as monophyletic, and as having split from its sister genus
during the Late Oligocene. The three recognized species of
comprise four independently evolving groups. The molecular results reveal that the genus began to diverge during the Middle Miocene. We revealed that the best-studied species,
is paraphyletic. A population, formally ascribed to this species, from the Negev Mountain area in southern Israel is phylogenetically closer to
from Oman than to the northern populations of the species from Israel, Syria and Turkey. Herein we describe this population as a new species:
We identify four species within
:
, and
, the latter, to the best of our knowledge, is endemic to southern Israel. The onset of
diversification is very old and estimated to have occurred during the Middle Miocene, possibly originating in the Levant region. Radiation probably resulted from vicariance and dispersal events caused by continuous geological instability, sea-level fluctuations and climatic changes within the Levant region.
The genus Ptyodactylus comprises 12 species distributed in North Africa and the Middle East. The most widely distributed species of the genus, Ptyodactylus hasselquistii, is known for its great ...morphological and genetic diversity, and ranges from Sudan and Egypt through Israel and Jordan towards Saudi Arabia and Yemen. In 1905 the first specimen of P. hasselquistii was collected from Lebanon, described later as a distinct subspecies, Ptyodactylus hasselquistii krameri. Here we provide a second record of P. hasselquistii from Lebanon collected in 2010, which represents the first exact record of the species in Lebanon in over 105 years. We use morphological comparisons and genetic analyses of two markers to account for the phylogenetic position of the new specimen within Ptyodactylus and to evaluate the taxonomic status of P. h. krameri. This integrative examination revealed a close association of the Lebanese specimen with nominotypic P. hasselquistii populations from Egypt and Sudan suggesting a relatively recent introduction from that general area. Similar morphological characteristics between the two Lebanese specimens and those from Egypt, and identical genetic sequences, suggest rejecting subspecific status of the Lebanese population and synonymizing the name Ptyodactylus hasselquistii krameri with the name Ptyodactylus hasselquistii.
Animal Remains from Tel Reḥov Marom, Nimrod; Tamar, Karin; Harding, Sierra
Near Eastern archaeology,
06/2022, Volume:
85, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Livestock are enmeshed with human communities in their role as capital while living, their perimortem role as sacrificial victims, and their postmortem use as food (Crabtree 1990; deFrance 2009; ...Schwartz 2017). The centrality of animals in the constitution of key aspects of human societies makes the study of their material remains a potential source of information on economy, foodways, environment, and ritual in human antiquity. The study of animal remains from archaeological sites during the Iron Age, a period of rapid cultural and political shifts, can offer another viewpoint on the changes in economic and social organization complementing that obtained from other material culture finds. The archaeological excavations at Tel Rehov, directed by Amihai Mazar on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, yielded a large faunal assemblage from diverse Iron Age II contexts at the site (Marom 2020; Tamar, Marom, and Raban-Gerstel 2020; Weissbrod, 2020). This assemblage, representing accumulated food waste, affords a rare opportunity to study a settlement from a zooarchaeological perspective that has preserved unique, indigenous material culture throughout the political and social turmoil at the end of the second millennium BCE through the Iron Age II. Here we discuss the results of the faunal reports on the large mammal remains (Tamar, Marom, and Raban-Gerstel 2020; Marom 2020), and contextualize them within the larger picture of Iron Age animal economy and animal-related cultural practices.
Animal Remains from Tel Reḥov Marom, Nimrod; Tamar, Karin; Harding, Sierra
Near Eastern archaeology,
06/2022, Volume:
85, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The Iron Age settlement at Tel Reḥov has yielded a large and well-preserved faunal assemblage. Zooarchaeological analysis of these animal remains from the Iron Age is used to discuss aspects of ...settlement economy, examining both development through time and similarity with contemporaneous assemblages. The results show that the animal economy at the site was not very different from contemporary valley sites in the Southern Levant, but suggest a certain development of the pastoral economy between the Iron Age I and II. In addition, some insights pertaining to the symbolic use of animals can be gleaned from the faunal remains, specifically in respect to side preferences.
Asaccus geckos are distributed in southwest Asia, mainly in Iran and Arabia. Currently, seven Asaccus species are recognized in Arabia, all endemic to the isolated Hajar Mountains in Oman and the ...UAE, an area regarded as a biodiversity and endemicity hotspot. Previous phylogenetic studies have shown a non‐monophyletic structure of the Arabian Asaccus species, with the Hajar endemic A. montanus diverging first from the remaining Iranian and Arabian taxa, thus suggesting a possible Arabian origin for the genus. Despite the species’ obvious phylogeographical importance, no study has yet explored its intraspecific diversity. In this study, we assessed the genetic diversity and phylogeography of A. montanus and its phylogenetic relationships with the rest of the Arabian Asaccus species and some available representatives from Iran. We used both mitochondrial and nuclear data to assess phylogenetic relationships based on haplotype networks, concatenated datasets and species trees, performed species delimitation analyses, and estimated divergence times and genetic diversity. We suggest Asaccus began diverging during the Middle Oligocene, a period of major tectonic activity in and around Arabia. Our results mainly support previous phylogenetic studies and uncover the presence of cryptic diversity within A. montanus. Asaccus montanus diverged in the Jebel Akhdar Mountain range into two deep allopatric lineages during the Late Pliocene. Our findings suggest further taxonomic research is necessary for this species, especially due to its vulnerable status and restricted range in an area of great conservation importance.
The gecko Asaccus montanus is endemic to Jebel Akhdar in the Hajar Mountains of Oman, an area regarded as a biodiversity and endemicity hotspot. The phylogeography of A. montanus and the phylogenetic relationships with other available Asaccus species uncover the presence of cryptic diversity within the species, with two deep allopatric lineages that diverged during the Late‐Pliocene. Further taxonomic research is crucial due to the species’ vulnerable status and restricted range in an area of great conservation importance.
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