The Molecular And Morphological Evidence Of Five Species Of The Genus Hemiptera (Lizardia: Geckoidae) In China Includes A Description Of A New Species

This thesis contains three chapters.Chapter 1:A brief review of species concepts and spceies delimitation,and a brief introduction of research on genus Hemiphyllodactylus.Chapter 2:A new species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus is described from mountain area of Changning county,Yunnan province,China.Hemiphyllodactylus changningensis sp.nov.is characterized by a combination of the following characters:a maximum SVL of 40.09 mm in males and 43.81 mm in females;7 or 8 chin scales;enlarged postmental scales;3 or 4 circumnasal scales;2 or 3 scales between supranasals;8-11 supralabials;8-10 infralabials;11-15 dorsal scales;6-8 ventral scales;a lamellar forefoot formula of 3-3/4-3/4-3;a lamellar hindfoot formula of 3-4-4-4 or 3-3-3-3;precloacal and femoral pore series continuous;1 or 2 cloacal spurs on each side in both males and females;no enlarged subcaudal scales;dark dorsal transverse blotches;dark postorbital stripe;a brown postsacral mark bearing anteriorly projecting arms;and unpigmented caecum and gonads.Molecular phylogenetic analyses using mtDNA ND2 indicate that the new species is the sister species of H.longlingensis.Chapter 3:The integrative toxamomy study of five species of Hemiphyllodactylus in China was conducted based on morphological characters and molecular sequence data(mitochondrial ND2 and Cyt b).The results of molecular study showed that each of the five species was monophyletic respectively in the phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial ND2 and Cyt b.The result of network analysis is consistent with the phylogenetic analysis.The K2P average pairwise genetic distances(ND2:19.87%-34.63%;Cyt b:17.65%-27.22%)calculated based on the five species correspond to average genetic distance between other Hemiphyllodactylus species.Pairwise FST values between populations indicated low levels of gene flow among these five species.Lower gene flow between populations suggested that these species have experienced a long time of isolation.Morphologically,five morphotypes matched the five genetic lineages.H.yunnanensis and H.jinpingensis are sympatric in distribution.H.changningensis and H.longlingensis are sympatric as well.Combined with phylogenetic analysis,the divergence times and geographical distribution pattern,we speculate that two species of Hemiphyllodactylus in China originated from ancestors from northeast Indo-China Peninsula,the other three evolved from ancestors from northwest Indo-China Peninsula and India.In addition,the results indicate that there are at least two cryptic species of Hemiphyllodactulus in China.