DOI: 10.5061/dryad.mj3v6
title: Data from: Critically endangered island endemic or peripheral population of a widespread species? Conservation genetics of Kikuchi’s gecko and the global challenge of protecting peripheral oceanic island endemic vertebrates

description: Aim: To highlight the significant conservation challenge of evaluating
 peripheral endemic vertebrates in island archipelago systems and to assess
 empirically the complexities of approaches to conservation genetic studies
 across political and biogeographic boundaries. To demonstrate the poignant
 need for international collaboration and coordination when species
 delimitation problems with high conservation concern involve island
 endemics with biogeographically peripheral ranges. Location: Southeast
 Asia, Lanyu Island, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Methods: Genetic samples
 were collected and sequenced for one mitochondrial gene and five nuclear
 loci for species of the Gekko mindorensis-G. kikuchii species complex in
 Southeast Asia. We used maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic
 methods and coalescent-based species delimitation analyses to estimate
 phylogeographic relationships, construct multilocus haplotype networks and
 test putative species boundaries. Results: Phylogenetic and population
 genetic analyses suggest that Kikuchi's Gecko may represent a
 peripheral population of a widespread species distributed from the
 northern Philippines to Taiwan. However, we identify a discrepancy between
 inferences of species boundaries resulting from methods based on allele
 frequencies versus coalescent-based methods that incorporate evolutionary
 history. Coalescent-based analyses suggest that G. kikuchii may be a
 distinct evolutionary lineage. Our study underscores the need for
 coalescent-based methods in conjunction with population genetic approaches
 for conservation genetic assessments of widespread species. Main
 conclusions: This study joins a few recent works suggesting that
 Philippine-derived anomalies in the fauna of Lanyu (and possibly greater
 Taiwan) are worthy of careful reconsideration. Determining whether each is
 the result of recent human-mediated introduction or (possibly more
 ancient) natural dispersal should be the goal of future studies on this
 seldom-conceived biogeographic relationship. Isolated species endemic to
 islands on the outer periphery of biogeographic and political regions
 represent particular conservation challenges. This is especially true if a
 species occurs on an isolated island that is allied biogeographically with
 one nation, but politically administered by another.
description: Concatenated Alignment
 FileThis is the alignment
 file used in phylogenetic analyses. A character block is provided at the
 bottom of the file defining the gene and codon datasets within the
 alignment.Siler.etal_Alignment.nexAppendixS1This appendix provides information relating to specimens used in phylogenetic and population genetic analyses. For each individual listed, field collector numbers and museum voucher numbers are provided as well as general localities.Bayesian Consensus TopologyThe maximum clade credibility tree resulting from Bayesian analyses.Bayesian_ConsensusTopology.treRAxML Bootstrap TopologyMaximum Likelihood Bootstrap topology resulting from ML analyses in the program RAxMLRAxML_BootstrapTopology.treMorphological Data FileThis is the morphological data used in the study with georeferenced coordinate information.Morphology.xlsx