| Abstract |
The wall lizards of the genus Podarcis (Wagler, 1830) belong to the family Lacertidae and are
divided into 24-25 species. Originating from Western Europe, the variety of species is being
the result of multiple vicarianistic events during the Miocene. Despite the abundance of
phylogenetic studies referring to the genus, the relationships among certain species, as well
as the taxonomic status of some genealogical lines, remain unclear due to great genetic
diversity.
In the present study we will investigate the phylogenetic relationships among all species of
the genus found in the Balkan Peninsula, focusing on the greek distribution of Podarcis
muralis, a species which has not been studied thoroughly.
For this purpose, data was generated for six nuclear (MC1R, Pod15b, Pod55, NKTR, UBN1,
Rag1) and two mitochondrial loci (Cyt b, 16s rRNA) from 64 individuals of the greek
distribution of the wall lizard (Podarcis muralis). Three data sets were used to investigate the
phylogenetic relationships within the species of P.muralis and among all species of the genus
based on the Balkan Peninsula, using the methods of Bayesian Inference and Maximum
Likelihood. Based on the results, the species of P.muralis seems to contain five distinct
genealogies, being represented by individuals from Samothrace, Northern Greece, WesternCentral Greece / Epirus, Thessaly and Central Greece/Peloponnese, with the relationships
between the subgroups being uncertain.
Baeysian methods of species delimitation, BPP and STACEY (BEAST), support the existence of
10 species of the genus distributed into three distinct groups of species, the group of
P.erhardii, P. tauricus and P .muralis. The P. erhardii subgroup began to differentiate around
7.32 million years ago and includes the species P.cretensis, P.peloponnesiacus, P. levendis,
and two genealogies within P. erhardii seem to represent two different species, P. erhardii of
the Mainland and P.erhardii of the Cyclades. In P.tauricus subgroup, which began to
differentiate 7.18 mya consists of P. ionicus, P.milensis, P.tauricus and P. gaigeae, while the
third group is represented solely by P.muralis, a species of Italian origin.
Combined, phylogenetic analysis and species trees support the existence of three
genealogies within the P.muralis species that began to form at around 1.93 mya and include
specimens of Samothrace, northern Greece, and a clade of Central/Western Greece ,
Thessaly, Epirus and the Peloponnese is strongly suggested. The phylogenetic tree that
emerged from the NCBI sequences of P.muralisindicates a recent common ancestor between
Samothrace and Turkey, while the relationship of northern Greece with European
populations is uncertain.
In conclusion, the present study has given the diversified groups within P.muralis that should
be further elaborated, raising questions about the origin and how the species got distributed
in Balkan peninsula.
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