Genetic variability of the tokay gecko based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA

Abstract

With largely allopatric distribution, the black tokay and the red tokay are two distinct morphs of the subspecies Gekko gecko gecko. In consideration of their different morphological characteristics, the taxonomic status of G. g. gecko is disputed. Through detailed morphological comparison, it has been proposed that the black tokay should be elevated to species ranking, but without strong genetic evidence. In order to further investigate the taxonomic status of the tokay gecko (G. gecko), we used one mitochondrial marker (ND2) and three nuclear markers (RAG1, c-mos, and ITS2) to explore the phylogenetic and taxonomic relationship of the tokay gecko. Our results revealed a deep phylogeographical divergence in tokay gecko and at the same time provided us with the evidence of possible introgressive hybridization or/and incomplete lineage sorting between the black tokay and the red tokay. The elevation of the black tokay to species level is also supported by our results. However, due to limited sampling and genetic data, this elevation should be further corroborated by more genetic evidence.

Keywords::

• Tokay gecko
• Gekko gecko
• Gekko reevesii
• genetic variability
• phylogenetic relationship

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr Li Li of Guangxi Medicinal Herb Garden and Dr Xiaomao Zeng of Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for helping us to collect samples. We thank Li Jiang in the University of Massachusetts Medical School for carefully revising the manuscript. We would also like to thank two anonymous referees for helpful comments on the manuscript.

Declaration of interest : This research was funded by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10-0607), and by the Science and Technology Supporting Program of National Eleventh Five-Year Project (2006BAI06A12-03). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.