Leaf-toed geckos (Phyllodactylus) exhibit much cryptic diversity, at least in North America. However, the origins of Central American taxa and their relationships with North American congeners remain unknown. The P. tuberculosus species complex is ideal for evolutionary and biogeographic studies because its geographic distribution extends from northern Mexico to Costa Rica. We analyse ~2,500 nuclear loci obtained by the GBS genomic technique to test hypotheses of genetic isolation among taxa and estimate times of divergence using a relaxed molecular clock model, which constitutes the first hypothesis for the diversification of North and Central American phyllodactylids. Phylogenetic analysis recovers three main clades within polyphyletic P. tuberculosus: tuberculosus, magnus and saxatilis. ABBA-BABA tests show moderate to low levels of gene flow within the latter two clades and yet genetic isolation in Central American lineages. The relaxed molecular clock model dates the age of the MRCA between the Central American and North American lineages to the beginning of the Paleocene (65 mya), suggesting an ancestral distribution in the proto-Mexican region and the Chortis Block.

中文翻译：

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对美国 Phyllodactylus tuberculosus complex (Reptilia: Phyllodactylidae) 的基因组评估

叶趾壁虎（Phyllodactylus）表现出许多神秘的多样性，至少在北美是这样。然而，中美洲分类群的起源及其与北美同类的关系仍然未知。在P。结核菌种复合体是进化和生物地理学研究的理想选择，因为它的地理分布从墨西哥北部延伸到哥斯达黎加。我们分析了通过 GBS 基因组技术获得的约 2,500 个核位点，以测试分类群之间遗传隔离的假设，并使用松弛的分子钟模型估计分歧时间，这构成了北美和中美洲叶指类动物多样化的第一个假设。系统发育分析恢复了多系群中的三个主要进化枝P.tuberculosus：tuberculosus，magnus和saxatilis。ABBA-BABA 测试显示后两个进化枝中的基因流处于中到低水平，但在中美洲谱系中存在遗传隔离。宽松的分子钟模型将中美洲和北美谱系之间的 MRCA 的年龄追溯到古新世开始（65 年），表明原始墨西哥地区和乔蒂斯地块的祖先分布。