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The enigmatic Crimean green lizard (Lacerta viridis magnifica) is extinct but not valid: Mitogenomics of a 120-year-old museum specimen reveals historical introduction
Authors:Christian Kehlmaier  Oleksandr Zinenko  Uwe Fritz
Institution:1. Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, Dresden, Germany;2. Museum of Nature, Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, School of Biology, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Abstract:It has been proposed that Lacerta viridis magnifica Sobolevssky, 1930 represents an extinct species or subspecies of green lizard endemic to the southern Crimea. Using NGS protocols optimized for heavily degraded DNA, we sequenced the complete mitogenome of one of the originally formalin-preserved specimens collected in the late 19th century. A comparison with sequence data of other green lizards revealed that L. v. magnifica is a junior synonym of the northern subspecies of the western green lizard (L. b. bilineata Daudin, 1802), which occurs at least 1,500 km away, beyond the distribution ranges of other green lizards. In medieval times, a Genoese colony existed in the Crimean region where the extinct green lizards occurred. Until the early 20th century, close ties to Italy persisted, and locals of Genoese descent sent their children for education to Italy, where L. b. bilineata occurs. This suggests that the extinct Crimean green lizards have been introduced accidentally or intentionally from Italy. Our study exemplifies the value of historical formalin-preserved museum specimens for clarifying the status of questionable rare or extinct taxa.
Keywords:complete mitogenome  Crimea  Genoa  historical DNA  Lacertidae  Sauria
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