New localities and lineages of the Atlas dwarf lizard Atlantolacerta andreanskyi identified using mitochondrial DNA markers

Abstract

Atlantolacerta andreanskyi (Werner, 1929) is an endemic lizard from the High Atlas Mountains region of Morocco. A previous molecular assessment of this species using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers uncovered extensive genetic diversity with seven lineages indicative of a species complex. A morphological assessment of six of these lineages did not establish simple diagnostic features, and proposed these should be considered as a cryptic species, while highlighting the need for greater sampling across the range. In this study, we sampled 8 individuals from 5 previously unsampled localities and carried out genetic analyses to compare these populations to the known variation. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on mitochondrial DNA markers (12S rRNA and ND4) corroborates the previously described lineages and identified a new one. Interestingly, the two samples that account for this newly identified lineage have been collected from distinct localities – M’goun and Toumliline – that form a sister taxon to the population of Jbel Azourki.