GENETIC POPULATION STRUCTURE OF SPANISH CHAMELEON: IMPLICATIONS FOR ITS CONSERVATION

Abstract

RAPD analysis has been used to determine the genetic diversity and the population structure of the Chamaeleo chamaeleon in Spain, using three populations, two from Spain and one from Morocco. Genetic variability was evaluated on the basis of 819 loci produced by 60 primers. Dendrograms based on similarity indexes between the 40 animals and estimations of genetic differentiation among populations (F_ST) showed a clear population substructure defined by the geographical area from which the animals come. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that 51.6% of the total variance was due to differences among populations. Moreover, the genetic flow among populations was very low. Therefore, our data suggest that the analyzed African and Spanish populations constitute different conservation units. These results constitute new evidence that supports the establishment of plans for the conservation of this species in Spain.