Asiatic Herpetological Research

December 1993

Vol. 5, pp. 59-64

Allozyme Variation and Genetic Relationships within the Phrynocephalus
guttatus Species Group (Sauria: Agamidae) in the Former USSR.
Sergei mezhziierin and Michael l. Golubev
InstituteAbstract.

of Zoology, Academy of Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine-An electrophoretic analysis of several populations of Phrynocephalus guttatus s. lato. showsthat there are two groups with a remarkable level of genetic differentiation.

There is an eastern Palearctic P.

from southern Mongolia, and a western Palearctic P. guttatus s. str. which includes: g.
from northern
kushackewitschii
g. alpherakii, g. salenskyi, g. moltschanovii, guttatus ssp.
g.
guttatus,Turkmenia and versicolor hispida from Djungar Gate. There are no objective criteria for subspecificversicolor

separation by biochemical genetic markers.

Key words:

Reptilia, Sauria, Agamidae, Phrynocephalus, electrophoresis, systematics.

40FIG. 1. Distribution of the Phrynocephalus guttatus species group in the former USSR. la- P. g. guttatus;
lb- P. g. moltschanovi; II- P. g. kushackewitschii; III- P. g. alpherakii; IV- P. g. salenskyi; V- P.
is as given in Table 1.
VI-P.
versicolor
ssp. The numbering of the populations
hispida;guttatus

Introduction

The agamid genus Phrynocephalus
includes some polytypic species groups.
One of the most complicated species

complexes is Phrynocephalus guttatuss.

lato. Representatives of this species groupare widely distributed in Middle and Central
Asia from the northern Caucasus to China.
The systematics of this species group ishighly controversial and needs revision.

There are some alternative viewpoints on
the status and systematic relationships of its
representatives. The classical viewpoint of

Terentjev and Chernov (1949) recognized
only two species: P. versicolor and P.
guttatus (P. g. guttatus and P. g.
A new concept was
kushackewitschii).

© 1993 by Asiatic Herpetological Researchdeveloped during the last decade by
Semenov and Shenbrot (Semenov andShenbrot, 1982; Shenbrot and Semenov,
1987; Semenov et. al., 1987). According
to this concept, the guttatus-group consists

P. guttatus (Gmel), P.
moltschanovi Nik., P. melanurus Eichw.
(=P. salenskyi Bedr.) and P. versicolor
The last form includes the nominalStr.
subspecies (China: Alashan to Djungaria),
P. v. kulagini (Tuva, Russia; westernMongolia) and the western Palearcticof four species:subspecies, P. v. paraskii Semenov,Brushko, Kubykin et Shenbrot. Golubev(1989) lowered the status of "salenskyi" tosubspecific level, united P. v. paraskii withP. guttatus alpherakii Bedr. and included"moltschanovi" only as a color variation ofP. g. guttatus.

Vol.

3, p.

TABLE

Asiatic Herpetological Research60

1 .

December 1993Localities, sample sizes and taxa of Phrynocephalus guttatus S. lato. populations

collected and investigated in this study.

N1TaxaP. g. guttatus

Locality

Daghestan: Tersky Sands near Chervlenny Buruny
Russia: Stavropol Dist., Tersky Sands: Roshchino
Chencheno-Ingushety: near Starogladkovsky
N. Daghestan: sands on the right bank of Kuma River2No.

NORTHERN TRANSCAUCASUS REGION
2331

December 1993

TABLE 2.

Asiatic Herpetological Research

Enzymes studied and electroph

Vol. 3, p. 61

Vol. 3. p. 62

TABLE 3.
LocusAsiatic Herpetological ResearchAllelic frequencies.

December 1993

December 1993

TABLE 4.

Asiatic Herpetological ResearchVol. 3, p. 63

Distribution of genotypes at the Ldh-A locus in populations of different geographiac
forms of toad agamas of the Phrynocephalus guttatus group.

Form

Vol.

3. p.

Asiatic Herpetological Research64

December 1993

P. g guttatus*•

P. g. moltschanovi

V-P.g.spp.

—1

P. v. paraskivi
P. g. salenskyi
P. v. hispida

P. g. kushackewitschii - I
P. g. kushackewitschii - II-/hP.

v.

versicolor

P. strauchi-//-

P. helioscopus saidalievi-//-

0.7

0.8

0.6

DFIG. 2.

0.3
(0.20.1Nei, 1975)

UPGMA Phenogram of relationships among Phrynocephalus guttatus

proteins.

Annals of the New York Academy ofmoltschanovi

s.

lato.

(Reptilia,Agamidae)].

Zoological Journal, Moscow 61(8):1 194-1204.

Sciences 121:404-408.

(In Russian).

GOLUBEV, M. L.

1989. [Phrynocephalus guttatus(Gmel. ) or Ph. versicolor Str. ( Reptilia,Agamidae): which Phrynocephalus species
occurs in Kazakhstan?]. Zoological News, Kiev
(5):38-46. (In Russian).

SEMENOV, D. V. Z. K. BRUSHKO, R. A.
KUBYKIN AND G.
SHENBROT. 1987.
,I.

[Taxonomic position and protective status of theRound-headed Lizard (Reptilia, Agamidae) in theterritory of the

MEZHZHERIN, S. V. AND M. L. GOLUBEV.
Allozyme

1992.

USSR].

Zoological Journal,

Moscow 68(1 2):79-87. (In Russian).

variation and genetic relationships

among Phrynocephalus guttatus species group(Agamidae) of the former USSR fauna. 1stAsian Herpetological Meeting, 15-20 July,
1992, Huangshan, China. Abstract Book:52.

SHENBROT, G. I. AND D. V. SEMENOV.
[Presentdistributionand1987.

taxonomyof

Phrynocephalus guttatus (Reptilia, Agamidae)].
Zoological Journal, Moscow 66(2):259-272.
(In Russian).

NEVO E., A. BEILES AND R. BEN-SHLOMO. 1984.
The evolutionary significance of genetic
diversity:
ecological, demographic and life
Lecture Notes inhistory correlates.
Biomathematics 53:13-213.

PEACOCK, A. C, S. L. BUNTING AND K. G.
QUINN.

1965.

Serum protein electrophoresis
patterns from normal humanin acrylamide gel:subjects. Science 147:1451-1455.

SEMENOV, D. V. AND G.

I.

SHENBROT.

1982.

[On species independence of Phrynocephalus

TERENTYEV, P. V. AND S. A. CHERNOV.

1949.

and amphibians], Soviet[GuideSciences Publishing, Moscow. 315 pp. (Into reptiles

Russian).