Polymorphism and synonymy of Brookesia antakarana and B. Ambreensis, leaf chameleons from Montagne d’Ambre in north Madagascar
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We examine the taxonomic status of two Malagasy leaf chameleon taxa, Brookesia antakarana Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 1995 and B. ambreensis Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 1995, integrating morphological and genetic evidence. Specimens assigned to these species occur in syntopy in Montagne d’Ambre, northern Madagascar, and were originally described based on differences in the shape of their pelvic shields. We found that the shape of these shields falls on a continuous spectrum, and detected only weak differences between the two taxa in a few other morphological features, all of which were correlated with shield length. Members of the two taxa (as assigned based on pelvic shield morphology) also showed extensive haplotype sharing in one nuclear and one mitochondrial marker. We conclude that at present there is no convincing evidence that these species are distinct, and act as first revisers in the sense of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to place B. ambreensis into the synonymy of B. antakarana.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Salamandra |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Pages (from-to) | 259-268 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| ISSN | 0036-3375 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:
We are grateful to the following individuals: J. H. Razafindraibe, O. Randriamalala, R. T. Rakotonindrina, S. M. Rasolo-njatovo, E. Z. Lattenkamp, and A. Razafimanantsoa for helping us with fieldwork; the students of the 2016 BD08 (Vertebrate Morphology) course of TU Braunschweig (L. M. Bente, J. Bütt-ner, H. Fuhrmann, A. Kynzburska, S. X. Meyer, F. Nikolka, L. Raith, M. Rehbock, G. Koziel (née Reiser), M. Schrader) for their work measuring the specimens presented here; G. Schneider (UMMZ) for providing photographs and CT scans of the holotypes of B. ambreensis and B. antakarana; D. Rabaiotti for statistical consultation; C. Hutter and one anonymous reviewer for helpful peer review and J. Köhler for additional helpful comments; S. M. Goodman for information on the future protection status of the Montagne d’Ambre region; and the Malagasy authorities (Direction Régionale des Forêts) for issuing the necessary research and export permits to collect the specimens used here. Financial support was provided by the Volkswagen Foundation to FG and MV, and by DFG (project VE 247/13-1) to MV and MDS.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde e.V. (DGHT), Mannheim, Germany.
- Amber mountain, Antsiranana, Chamaeleonidae, Molecular genetics, Morphology, Squamata, Taxonomy
Research areas
ID: 284288270