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Agarwal I, Bauer AM, Gamble T, Giri VB, Jablonski D, Khandekar A, Mohapatra PP, Masroor R, Mishra A, Ramakrishnan U. The evolutionary history of an accidental model organism, the leopard gecko Eublepharis macularius (Squamata: Eublepharidae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2022; 168:107414. [PMID: 35032646 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 01/03/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius, is a widely used model organism in laboratory and experimental studies. The high phenotypic diversity in the pet trade, the fact that the provenance of different breeding lines is unknown, and that distinct Eublepharis species are known to hybridize, implies that the continued use of E. macularius as a model requires clarity on the origin of the lineages in the pet trade. We combine multi-locus sequence data and the first range-wide sampling of the genus Eublepharis to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Eublepharidae and Eublepharis, with an updated time-tree for the Eublepharidae. Our sampling includes five of the six recognized species and additional nominal taxa of uncertain status comprising 43 samples from 34 localities plus 48 pet-trade samples. The Eublepharidae began diversifying in the Cretaceous. Eublepharis split from its sister genera in Africa in the Palaeocene-Eocene, and began diversifying in the Oligocene-Miocene, with late Miocene-Pliocene cladogenesis giving rise to extant species. The current species diversity within this group is moderately underestimated. Our species delimitation suggests 10 species with four potentially unnamed divergent lineages in Iran, India and Pakistan. All 30 individuals of E. macularius that we sampled from the pet trade, which include diverse morphotypes, come from a few shallow E. macularius clades, confirming that lab and pet trade strains are part of a single taxon. One of the wild-caught haplotypes of E. macularius, from near Karachi, Pakistan, is identical to (10) pet-trade samples and all other captive populations are closely related to wild-caught animals from central/southern Pakistan (0.1-0.5 % minimum pairwise uncorrected ND2 sequence divergence).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ishan Agarwal
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, 560065, India; Thackeray Wildlife Foundation, Vaibhav Chambers, Bandra, Mumbai, 400051, India; Department of Biology and Center for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Stewardship, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 19085, USA.
| | - Aaron M Bauer
- Department of Biology and Center for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Stewardship, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 19085, USA
| | - Tony Gamble
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, 53233, USA; Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W. Wells St., Milwaukee, WI 53233, USA; Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, 2088 Larpenteur Ave. W., St. Paul, MN, 55113, USA
| | - Varad B Giri
- NIDUS, A1903, Shubh Kalyan, Nanded City, Pune, 411041, India
| | - Daniel Jablonski
- Department of Zoology, Ilkovičova 6, Mlynská dolina, Comenius University in Bratislava, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Akshay Khandekar
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, 560065, India; Thackeray Wildlife Foundation, Vaibhav Chambers, Bandra, Mumbai, 400051, India
| | - Pratyush P Mohapatra
- Zoological Survey of India, Central Zone Regional Centre, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, 482002, India
| | - Rafaqat Masroor
- Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Garden Avenue, Shakarparian, Islamabad-44000, Pakistan
| | - Anurag Mishra
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, 560065, India
| | - Uma Ramakrishnan
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, 560065, India
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Frýdlová P, Mrzílková J, Šeremeta M, Křemen J, Dudák J, Žemlička J, Minnich B, Kverková K, Němec P, Zach P, Frynta D. Determinate growth is predominant and likely ancestral in squamate reptiles. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20202737. [PMID: 33352069 PMCID: PMC7779497 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Body growth is typically thought to be indeterminate in ectothermic vertebrates. Indeed, until recently, this growth pattern was considered to be ubiquitous in ectotherms. Our recent observations of a complete growth plate cartilage (GPC) resorption, a reliable indicator of arrested skeletal growth, in many species of lizards clearly reject the ubiquity of indeterminate growth in reptiles and raise the question about the ancestral state of the growth pattern. Using X-ray micro-computed tomography (µCT), here we examined GPCs of long bones in three basally branching clades of squamate reptiles, namely in Gekkota, Scincoidea and Lacertoidea. A complete loss of GPC, indicating skeletal growth arrest, was the predominant finding. Using a dataset of 164 species representing all major clades of lizards and the tuataras, we traced the evolution of determinate growth on the phylogenetic tree of Lepidosauria. The reconstruction of character states suggests that determinate growth is ancestral for the squamate reptiles (Squamata) and remains common in the majority of lizard lineages, while extended (potentially indeterminate) adult growth evolved several times within squamates. Although traditionally associated with endotherms, determinate growth is coupled with ectothermy in this lineage. These findings combined with existing literature suggest that determinate growth predominates in both extant and extinct amniotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Frýdlová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague 12844, Czech Republic.,Department of Anatomy, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague 100 00, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Mrzílková
- Specialized Laboratory of Experimental Imaging, Third Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, Institute of Technical and Applied Physics and Faculty of Bioengineering, Prague 100 00, Czech Republic.,Department of Anatomy, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague 100 00, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Šeremeta
- Specialized Laboratory of Experimental Imaging, Third Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, Institute of Technical and Applied Physics and Faculty of Bioengineering, Prague 100 00, Czech Republic.,Department of Anatomy, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague 100 00, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Křemen
- Specialized Laboratory of Experimental Imaging, Third Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, Institute of Technical and Applied Physics and Faculty of Bioengineering, Prague 100 00, Czech Republic.,Department of Anatomy, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague 100 00, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Dudák
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague 110 00, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Žemlička
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague 110 00, Czech Republic
| | - Bernd Minnich
- Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, Salzburg 5020, Austria
| | - Kristina Kverková
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague 12844, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Němec
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague 12844, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Zach
- Specialized Laboratory of Experimental Imaging, Third Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, Institute of Technical and Applied Physics and Faculty of Bioengineering, Prague 100 00, Czech Republic.,Department of Anatomy, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague 100 00, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel Frynta
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague 12844, Czech Republic
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Abramjan A, Baranová V, Frýdlová P, Landová E, Frynta D. Ultraviolet reflectance and pattern properties in leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). Behav Processes 2020; 173:104060. [PMID: 31991157 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2019] [Revised: 12/29/2019] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Complex visual signaling through various combinations of colors and patterns has been well documented in a number of diurnal reptiles. However, there are many nocturnal species with highly sensitive vision, being able to discriminate colors in night conditions, as was shown in geckos. Because of their sensitivity to chromatic signals, including UV (ultraviolet), they may have potential hidden features in their coloration, which may play role in intraspecific communication (e.g. mate choice) or interspecific signals (e.g. antipredatory function). We explored this hypothesis in nocturnal Leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius), a species using visual signals in both antipredation defense and courtship, having ontogenetic color change accompanied by a shift in behavior. We used UV photography and visual modeling in order to compare various aspects of their coloration (luminance, contrast, color proportions) between sexes, age groups and populations. We found that Leopard geckos have considerable UV reflectance in white patches on their tails (and on the head in juveniles). Though, no prominent differences were detected in their coloration between various groups. We hypothesize that the limitation of UV reflectance to the head and tail, which are both actively displayed during defense, especially in juveniles, might potentially boost the effect of antipredation signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andran Abramjan
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-12844, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Veronika Baranová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-12844, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Petra Frýdlová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-12844, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Eva Landová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-12844, Prague, Czech Republic.
| | - Daniel Frynta
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-12844, Prague, Czech Republic
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