Eumeces is a little-known group of skinks with few phylogenies published. Within its distribution range, five subspecies were identified for Schneider's Skink (Eumeces schneiderii) based on color pattern, pholidosis, intra- and inter-subspecific relationships, but the validity of these taxa has yet to be assessed using molecular markers. Here, a robust phylogeny of the E. schneiderii group is presented based on three molecular markers (Cytb, 16S rRNA, and c-mos) from 80 samples collected across Anatolia and the Iranian Plateau. Both Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference approaches were used to infer phylogenetic relationships within this group. The results revealed monophyly of E. schneiderii subspecies and Eumeces persicus. These clades also differ in habitat preferences, with the small-bodied, striped forms generally inhabiting lower elevations and drier environments than the larger, uniform morph E. schneiderii subspecies. Molecular-clock dating based on Cytb implies that most speciation events took place during the Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene. A strongly supported basal dichotomy of Eumeces schneiderii zarudnyi + E. persicus in the southern and eastern slopes of the Zagros Mountains, with the E. schneiderii subspecies in the western Zagros, was identified in all individual and concatenated trees. Eumeces schneiderii zarudnyi should be elevated to species level and, therefore, we propose the name Eumeces zarudnyi for this taxon, increasing the number of species in the genus to seven described species.

中文翻译：

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施奈德石龙子 Eumeces schneiderii (Daudin, 1802)（有鳞：Scincidae）的分子系统发育和系统

Eumeces是一组鲜为人知的石龙子，几乎没有公开的系统发育。在其分布范围内，根据颜色模式、根状体、亚种内和亚种间关系确定了施耐德石龙子( Eumeces schneiderii ) 的五个亚种，但这些分类群的有效性尚未使用分子标记进行评估。在这里，一个强大的系统发育E. schneiderii组被呈现基于三个分子标记（细胞色素b，16S rRNA和Ç - MOS）来自安纳托利亚和伊朗高原收集的 80 个样本。最大似然和贝叶斯推理方法都用于推断该组内的系统发育关系。结果揭示了E 的单系性。 schneiderii亚种和Eumeces persicus。这些进化枝在栖息地偏好方面也不同，与较大、均匀的形态E相比，体型较小的条纹形式通常栖息在较低的海拔和干燥的环境中。 schneiderii亚种。基于Cytb 的分子钟年代测定意味着大多数物种形成事件发生在上中新世至下上新世。强烈支持Eumeces schneiderii zarudnyi 的基础二分法 +  Ë。 persicus位于扎格罗斯山脉的南坡和东坡，E . 在扎格罗斯西部的schneiderii亚种，在所有单独的和连接的树中都被鉴定出来。Eumeces schneiderii zarudnyi应该提升到物种水平，因此，我们建议将该分类群命名为Eumeces zarudnyi，将该属中的物种数量增加到七个描述的物种。