TY - JOUR
T1 - Taxonomic reassessment of two subspecies of Chinese skink in Taiwan based on morphological and molecular investigations (Squamata, Scincidae)
AU - Kurita, Kazuki
AU - Nakamura, Yukiko
AU - Okamoto, Taku
AU - Lin, Si Min
AU - Hikida, Tsutomu
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to M. Toda, Y. Kadota, T, Sasai, K. Mochida, W.-B. Gong, J.-W. Lin, K.-H. Lee, S.-F. Yang, W.-Y. Tsai, C.-W. Lu, and Y.-W. Hsiao for their help in collecting and managing specimens; J. V. Vindum for allowing KK to examine type specimens in California Academy of Science; Y.-H. Chen for providing valuable information on a name of a place in Taiwan; T. Makino for preparing the locality map; and H.-Y. Tseng, R.-J. Wang, and C.-W. You for allowing us to use their pictures. This study was financially supported by Fujiwara Natural History Public Interest Incorporated Foundation, Japan to KK, and Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan to SML.
Publisher Copyright:
© Kazuki Kurita et al.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The Chinese skink, Plestiodon chinensis (Gray, 1838), is widely distributed across continental China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and offshore islets, and consists of several subspecies. Here morphological and molecular methods have been used to reassess the taxonomic status and distributions of P. c. formosensis (Van Denburgh, 1912) and P. c. leucostictus (Hikida, 1988), which are endemic to Taiwan and Green Island (an islet off the east coast of Taiwan), respectively. It can be confirmed that the eastern Taiwanese populations of P. c. formosensis exhibit similar juvenile color patterning and genetic composition to the islet subspecies P. c. leucostictus, and are distinct from consubspecific populations in western Taiwan. Therefore, the eastern Taiwanese populations are assigned to P. c. leucostictus, and this subspecies is recognized as a distinct species, Plestiodon leucostictus (Hikida, 1988), based on their unique juvenile coloration and highly divergent DNA sequences. Our results also revealed that P. c. formosensis in western Taiwan is close to nominotypical subspecies from the continent, suggesting the necessity of a comprehensive taxonomic analysis in the future.
AB - The Chinese skink, Plestiodon chinensis (Gray, 1838), is widely distributed across continental China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and offshore islets, and consists of several subspecies. Here morphological and molecular methods have been used to reassess the taxonomic status and distributions of P. c. formosensis (Van Denburgh, 1912) and P. c. leucostictus (Hikida, 1988), which are endemic to Taiwan and Green Island (an islet off the east coast of Taiwan), respectively. It can be confirmed that the eastern Taiwanese populations of P. c. formosensis exhibit similar juvenile color patterning and genetic composition to the islet subspecies P. c. leucostictus, and are distinct from consubspecific populations in western Taiwan. Therefore, the eastern Taiwanese populations are assigned to P. c. leucostictus, and this subspecies is recognized as a distinct species, Plestiodon leucostictus (Hikida, 1988), based on their unique juvenile coloration and highly divergent DNA sequences. Our results also revealed that P. c. formosensis in western Taiwan is close to nominotypical subspecies from the continent, suggesting the necessity of a comprehensive taxonomic analysis in the future.
KW - Green Island
KW - Plestiodon chinensis
KW - Plestiodon leucostictus
KW - Subspecies
KW - Taiwan
KW - Taxonomy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027007489&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85027007489&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3897/zookeys.687.12742
DO - 10.3897/zookeys.687.12742
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85027007489
VL - 2017
SP - 131
EP - 148
JO - ZooKeys
JF - ZooKeys
SN - 1313-2989
IS - 687
ER -