Genetic and morphometric comparisons of populations of Lacerta diplochondrodes Wettstein, 1952 (Squamata: Lacertidae) in Türkiye

AbstractThe diverse climate types and geographical structures across Anatolia result in a high level of species diversity. Among these, the lizard species Lacerta diplochondrodes exhibits several distinct populations, with some of them recognized as subspecies. The primary objective of our study was to investigate whether populations from Thrace and the Western Black Sea region of Türkiye differ from other documented populations. For this purpose, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of genetic and morphometric parameters. For the genetic analysis, we utilized the COI and cyt-b gene regions as molecular markers. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA) were used for the morphometric analyses to differentiate populations. Our findings indicate that a population found in the Bolu region in Western Black Sea region of Turkey differs from the other populations both in morphometric and genetic traits. The L. d. diplochondrodes and L. d. cariensis populations represent sister lineages, and they are both genetically and morphologically only weakly differentiated. These two lineages are therefore referred to as L. d. diplochondrodes. Overall, four different lineages can be distinguished in Türkiye, out of which the lineage of the Western Black Sea region (Bolu lineage) is described for the first time.Keywords: AnatoliazoogeographyCOIcyt-blineagesmorphometryphylogeny Supplementary MaterialSupplementary Material is given as a Supplementary Annex, which is available via the “Supplementary” tab on the article’s online page.AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Gül of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Department of Biology for support in the fieldwork. The authors would like to thank Prof. Dr. Yusuf Kumlutaş of Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology for providing samples from their zoological collection for this study.Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Research Fund of Istanbul University under Grant (number: 22978).