Phenotypic variations among Laudakia stellio populations in Anatolia: Colour, colour pattern, and phylogeny (Reptilia: Agamidae)

Abstract

We examined the phenotypical intra- and inter-populational variation of Laudakia stellio, one of the most-studied agamids, which is widely distributed in Anatolia in order to reveal the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the morphological differences among populations. We used for the quantification of colouration of different body parts colour palettes with the RGB (Red-Green-Blue) colour scale and prepared colour histograms. The populations were compared with Principal Component Analyses (PCA). We found that the 1st dorsal pattern which is the first of 4-5 star-like pattern throughout the vertebral line, provides information about the sex of the individual and the geographic location of the population. PCA graphs revealed the colouration differences between localities of dorsal, lateral, ventral head and dorsal body regions. A phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial ND4 marker revealed four different lineages, namely Hatay, Adana-Mersin-Konya, Burdur-Denizli and Manisa-İzmir-Çanakkale. Noting the need for new studies with different genes, our results show that colouration and quantitative morphology are supported by phylogeny in L. stellio populations, especially in terms of subspeciation.