| Acanthodactylus cantoris var. blanfordii BOULENGER, 1918 Acanthodactylus cantoris blanfordii SMITH, 1935 Acanthodactylus blanfordii SALVADOR, 1982 |
Boulenger, G.A. (1918) - Description of Acanthodactylus blanfordii. - In: Boulenger, G.A. (ed.): Sur les lézards de genre Acanthodactylus Wiegm. – Extrait du Bulletin de la Societé zoologique de France, 43: 143-155.  Harris, D.J. & Arnold, E.N. (2000) - Elucidation of the relationships of spiny-footed lizards, Acanthodactylus spp. (Reptilia: Lacertidae) using mitochondrial DNA sequence, with comments on their biogeography and evolution. - Journal of Zoology, London, 252 (3): 351-362.  × Mitochondrial DNA sequences consisting of 645 sites from the 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes were used to estimate the phylogeny of 15 of the 32 species of spiny-footed lizards Acanthodactylus. The resultant tree has similarities to that produced from a differentially weighted data set of 32 morphological characters but there are also significant differences. However, combined analysis of molecular and morphological data sets produces the same tree topology as DNA sequence alone. The molecular data confirm that there are distinct eastern and western clades within Acanthodactylus, but place A. boskianus in the former while the A. scutellatus group constitutes a third clade. Species for which only morphological information is available were integrated with the combined tree to give a provisional phylogeny for 31 species. This phylogeny indicates that the ancestor of existing Acanthodactylus probably originated in south-west Asia and that North Africa was invaded by more than one lineage of the genus. It also suggests that soft aeolian sand habitats may have been independently occupied more than once. Molecular data provide independent evidence that the differential weighting of morphological characters in past analyses was appropriate. Tamar, K. & Carranza, S. & Sindaco, R. & Moravec, J. & Trape, J.-F. & Meiri, S. (2016) - Out of Africa: Phylogeny and biogeography of the widespread genus Acanthodactylus (Reptilia: Lacertidae). - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 103: 6-18. × Acanthodactylus lizards are among the most diverse and widespread diurnal reptiles in the arid regions spanning from North Africa across to western India. Acanthodactylus constitutes the most species-rich genus in the family Lacertidae, with over 40 recognized species inhabiting a wide variety of dry habitats. The genus has seldom undergone taxonomic revisions, and although there are a number of described species and species-groups, their boundaries as well as their interspecific relationships are largely unresolved. We constructed a multilocus phylogeny, combining data from two mitochondrial (12S, cytb) and three nuclear (MC1R, ACM4, c-mos) markers for 302 individuals belonging to 36 known species, providing the first large-scale time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of the genus. We evaluated phylogenetic relationships between and within species-groups, and assessed Acanthodactylus biogeography across its known range. Acanthodactylus cladogenesis is estimated to have originated in Africa due to vicariance and dispersal events from the Oligocene onwards. Radiation started with the separation into three clades: the Western and scutellatus clades largely distributed in North Africa, and the Eastern clade occurring mostly from Arabia to south-west Asia. Most Acanthodactylus species diverged during the Miocene, possibly as a result of regional geological instability and climatic changes. We support most of the current taxonomic classifications and phylogenetic relationships, and provide genetic validity for most species. We reveal a new distinct blanfordii species-group, suggest new phylogenetic positions (A. hardyi, A. masirae), and synonymize several species and subspecies (A. lineomaculatus, A. boskianus khattensis and A. b. nigeriensis) with their phylogenetically closely-related species. We recommend a thorough systematic revision of taxa exhibiting high levels of intraspecific variability as well as clear evidence of phylogenetic complexity such as A. guineensis, A. grandis, A. dumerilii, and A. senegalensis and the pardalis and erythrurus species-groups.
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