Eremias, or racerunners, is a widespread lacertid genus occurring in China, Mongolia, Korea, Central Asia, Southwest Asia and Southeast Europe. The reproductive biology of Eremias is notable in that there exists two reproductive modes: viviparity and oviparity.
Most are oviparous, whereas the Eremias multiocellata complex (comprising 6 species or 8 subspecies), Eremias buechneri, and Eremias przewalskii are viviparous. It has been through a series of taxonomic revisions, but the phylogenetic relationships among the species and subgenera remain unclear.
A recent research result released by Dr. GUO Xianguang and his colleagues may add new insights into this question. Dr. Guo and his colleagues from Chengdu Institue of Biology reassessed the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of some Eremias species on the basis of a frequently studied region of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA.
Their results supported monophyly of Eremias sensu Szczerbak and a clade comprising Eremias, Acanthodactylus and Latastia. The monophyly of the subgenus Pareremias was also corroborated with Eremias argus being the sister taxon to Eremias brenchleyi.
The results presented the first evidence that the viviparous species form a monophyletic group. Eremias multiocellata is likely a paraphyletic species or a species complex. However, the subgenera spidorhinus, Scapteira, and Rhabderemias seem not to be monophyletic, respectively. Their results showed that the diversification of the subgenus Paraeremias (about 6.3 million years ago) might be correlated with the evolution of an East Asian monsoon climate triggered by the rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau approximately 8 Ma.
The study entitled “Phylogeny and divergence times of some racerunner lizards (Lacertidae: Eremias) inferred from mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene segments” has been published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
Paper abstract: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790311003113
Author contact: Dr. Guo Xianguang
Tel: +86-28-85233060
Email: guoxg@cib.ac.cn
