EVOLUTION AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE GENUS TARENTOLA (SAURIA, GEKKONIDAE) IN THE CANARY-ISLANDS, INFERRED FROM MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA SEQUENCES

Sequences from fragments of the 12S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome b mit ochondrial genes were used to analyze phylogenetic relationships among geckos of genus Tarentola from the Canary Islands. A surprisingly hig h level of within island differentiation was found in T. delalandii in Tenerife and T. boettgeri in Gran Canaria. Molecular differentiation between populations of. angustimentalis on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura , and between Moroccan and Iberian Peninsula T. mauritanica, also indi cate that at least two subspecies should be recognized within each of them. Phylogenetic relationships among these species reveals a higher level of differentiation and a more complex colonization pattern than those found for the endemic genus Gallotia. Lack of evidence for the p resence of T. boettgeri bischoffi; on the island of Madeira does not s eem to support the origin of T. delalandii, T. gomerensis and the cana rian subspecies of T. boettgeri from this island, whereas molecular da ta confirms that T. angustimentalis is a sister species of the contine ntal T. mauritanica. Several independent colonization events from the continent and the extinction of some species are probably responsible for the current distribution of Tarenrola in the Canary Islands.