Geographic Patterns in Genetic and Morphological Variation in Two Skink Species along the Banda Arcs, Southeastern Indonesia

Abstract

In contrast to many other species examined in Wallacea, the patterns of genetic (allozyme) and morphological variation of two skink species revealed only moderate concordance with their geograph- ical arrangements. Initial analyses of genetic and morphometric variation in Lamprolepis smaragdina re- vealed the taxonomic separateness of islands in the northeast (Bandaneira, Kai Besar, and Ambon) from those in the south and southwest The relationship between these two taxa and L. smaragdina, sensu stricto has yet to be determined. Genetic variation in the southern species revealed two clusters of populations, corresponding, with one exception, to the Inner and Outer Banda Arcs. No such arrangement is seen in morphological variation, with poor discrimination of islands evidenced by substantial overlap of island ranges in canonical space. Nonetheless, there are three associations between canonical variates and island location (latitude and longitude) revealing the existence of some underlying, but weak, geographic pattern- ing. In Mabuya multifasciata, genetic variation within islands tends to decline from west to east, a trend seen in several other species in this region. Ordination of a genetic distance matrix revealed an association between the third axis and longitude. There was little morphological differentiation, with large overlaps in island ranges in canonical space and no geographic-associated patterning. There is no evidence of concor- dance between genetic and morphometric patterning within either Lamprolepis or M. multifasciata over their extensive ranges. The islands of the Banda Arc in southeastern Indonesia have long held a fascination for biol- ogists as the area of overlap between two of the world's major biogeographic regions, Asia and