Genetic diversity and taxonomy: a reassessment of species designation in tuatara (Sphenodon: Reptilia)
Genetic diversity and taxonomy: a reassessment of species designation in tuatara (Sphenodon: Reptilia)
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DOI：
10.1007/s10592-009-9952-7
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发表时间：
2010-06-01
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
Daugherty, Charles H.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hay, Jennifer M.;Sarre, Stephen D.;Daugherty, Charles H.
物种边界的识别是重要的异域种群保护的优先事项，并可能影响保护管理决策。楔齿鳄蜥（学名：Sphenodon）是楔齿亚目爬行动物中唯一现存的物种，分布于新西兰周边没有外来哺乳动物的岛屿上。我们提出了新的数据微卫星DNA多样性和大幅增加的mtDNA序列的所有26个采样的鳄蜥种群。我们也重新评估这些人群现有的等位酶数据，并一起使用它们来检查这些人群的分类地位。虽然人们可以解释的数据，以表明不同的分类名称，我们的结论是，与目前的分类学，楔齿龙是最好的描述为一个单一的物种，包含独特的和重要的地理变异。我们还研究了种群内的遗传变异量，并讨论了这些发现对这一标志性分类群的保护管理的影响。
The identification of species boundaries for allopatric populations is important for setting conservation priorities and can affect conservation management decisions. Tuatara (Sphenodon) are the only living members of the reptile order Sphenodontia and are restricted to islands around New Zealand that are free of introduced mammals. We present new data of microsatellite DNA diversity and substantially increased mtDNA sequence for all 26 sampled tuatara populations. We also re-evaluate existing allozyme data for those populations, and together use them to examine the taxonomic status of those populations. Although one could interpret the data to indicate different taxonomic designations, we conclude that, contrary to current taxonomy, Sphenodon is best described as a single species that contains distinctive and important geographic variants. We also examine amounts of genetic variation within populations and discuss the implications of these findings for the conservation management of this iconic taxon.