Investigating the impact of geological events on the distribution of blandford's semaphore Lizard (Pristurus rupestris) using 12S mitochondrial gen

Sphaerodactylidae is a family of geckos comprising 200 species in 12 genera. They are distributed in the Northern and Southern America, the Caribbean, Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Middle East, and Central Asia. Individuals of genus Pristurus are also known as the Semaphore Geckos and consist of 23 to 26 species. Pristurus rupestris is one of the smallest species of the genera which is found throughout the Eastern Arabian Peninsula and Southern Iran. In the current study, the origin and distribution of this species in Iran and the islands in which the presence of this gecko was confirmed, as well as the effects of climate oscillation on the distribution of this species during the periods of geologic events with usage of the mitochondrial marker (12S) was studied. In doing so, ten samples were collected from the species distribution range and their sequences were added to sequences obtained from GenBank and the resulted data set was analyzed using Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood methods. The results show that all Iranian samples belong to the Eastern Clade. Also, except for Kharg Island, all samples from other islands of the Persian Gulf are similar to those in the mail land. The Haplotype Network illustrated that both Iranian and Omani samples are placed in the same haplogroup and the central haplogroup is located in Oman. We speculate that during the last Ice Age in Pleistocene era, the Iranian individuals were separated from the Arabian ones and arrived in Iran during the Persian Gulf’s drought. Given that the geomorphologic barriers can directly affect the distribution patterns of reptiles, they would be excellent indicators for studying the phylogeographic.