Tropiocolotes (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Oman: new insights from morphological and genetic data

Abstract

Oman constitutes an important hotspot for Arabic herpetofauna, with two principal centers of biodiversity and endemism: The Hajar and Dhofar Mountains. In this latter area, regarding Tropiocolotes (Squamata: Gekkonidae), morphological evidence suggested a split of Tropiocolotes scortecci, endemic to Oman and Yemen, into western and eastern Dhofar populations. In this study, we provide new insights based on recently sampled material from which we obtained mitochondrial (Cytb, 12S and 16s) and nuclear (Cmos and MC1R) genetic data. This data was complemented with morphological examination of museum specimens and genetic data from other Tropiocolotes species. Our results support the existence of two Tropiocolotes species in Oman, one of them endemic to West Dhofar. This new species is not related to T. scortecci and therefore it is not the result of the split of Tropiocolotes scortecci into western and eastern populations. However, our morphological analyses of museum specimens indicate that this species had been confused repeatedly with T. scortecci. Despite showing a high degree of intraspecific diversity both at the morphological and genetic levels, it seems that Tropiocolotes scortecci is still the same species across its distribution range including Yemen and Oman. The intraspecific diversity found within both South Arabian Tropiocolotes species encourages even more the effort to document the diversity present in Oman, and more generally in Southern.