Abstract

Abstract The most recent taxonomic revision of the Aspidoscelis hyperythra complex of teiid lizards from Baja California referred all peninsular populations to A. hyperythra and recognized five insular populations as species based on their diagnosability and allopatric distributions. We used multivariate analyses of seven quantitative morphological characters to determine relative distinctiveness and divergence among these populations and the four geographically closest peninsular populations of A. hyperythra. The two northernmost insular species, Aspidoscelis picta (Isla Monserrate) and Aspidoscelis carmenensis (Isla Carmen) were significantly more divergent than were Aspidoscelis danheimae (Isla San Jose), Aspidoscelis franciscensis (Isla San Francisco), Aspidoscelis espiritensis (Islas Espiritu Santo and Partida Sur), and peninsular samples of A. hyperythra. Divergence information from mtDNA sequence variation divided the five insular species into the same high-divergence/low-divergence groups. We pres...

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