Complete mitochondrial genome of Shinisaurus crocodilurus (Squamata: Shinisaurus) and its genetic relationship with related species

Abstract

The 16,585 base pairs mitochondrial genome of Shinisaurus crocodilurus was determined by using PCR amplification and DNA sequencing. To determine the phylogenetic position of S. crocodilurus with related species within Squamata, the phylogenetic tree was reconstructed with the concatenated nucleotide sequences of the 12 heavy-strand-encoded protein genes. Phylogenetic analyses based on maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference methods consistently support that the S. crocodilurus was closely related to the Helodermatidae within a monophyletic Anguimorpha group. And the result here contradicted the monophyly of Varanoidea (Varanidae + Helodermatidae). In addition, the Gekkonidae was found to possess a basal phylogenetic position within squamata and the traditional hypothesis of monophyletic lineages of Iguania and Scleroglossa was not supported in this study.

Keywords::

• Shinisaurus crocodilurus
• mitochondrial genome
• phylogeny

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the grant from the Key Laboratory of Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection (Guangxi Normal University), Ministry of Education, the Guangxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, protection and Assessment, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30760039 and 31060288).

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.