%0 Journal Article
%T Mitochondrial DNA Variability within Uromastyx ornata philbyi (Agamidae: Squamata) from Southwestern Saudi Arabia
%A Sayed A. M. Amer
%A Mohamed M. Ahmed
%A Thomas M. Wilms
%A Mohammed Shobrak
%A Yoshinori Kumazawa
%J International Journal of Genomics
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/851379
%X Approximately 2.4£¿kbp of mitochondrial DNA was sequenced from 9 individuals of Uromastyx ornata philbyi originating from Taif, Namas, Al-Baha, and Jazan in southwestern Saudi Arabia. The sequenced regions cover eight tRNA genes ( , , , , , , , and ) and two protein-coding genes (NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and cytochrome b). U. ornata philbyi had an insertion of 170£¿bp length between and genes. The first 128£¿bp of this insertion was similar to the one identified earlier in U. ornata ornata and can be folded into a stem-and-loop structure, which was less stable in U. ornata philbyi than in U. ornata ornata, or the second gene. The next 42£¿bp of the insertion was unique in U. ornata philbyi and additionally retained a stable stem-and-loop structure. Most base substitutions found in the sequenced genes were synonymous transitions rather than transversions. Tree analyses supported the sister group relationship between the two U. ornata subspecies and divided U. ornata philbyi into two groups: Taif+Namas group in the east of Sarawat and Al-Baha+Jazan group in the west of Sarawat. These molecular data are in agreement with current classification of U. ornata. 1. Introduction Two subspecies of Uromastyx ornata have been recognized: Uromastyx ornata ornata (Heyden 1827) and Uromastyx ornata philbyi Parker, 1938 [1]. The distribution of U. ornata is confined to the eastern vicinity of the Red Sea. The range includes the Sinai Peninsula in the north and extends to the south east to Aqaba and southward through western Saudi Arabia to the northern border of Yemen. The presumed distribution of Uromastyx ornata philbyi extends along the mountainous region of the western Arabian Peninsula from Aqaba in the north down to Yemen. This area extends for about 1700£¿km through the arid and semiarid mountain range close to the coast of the Red Sea. The known geographical distribution includes the Median Mountains extending to the north, the Hijaz Mountains extending to the west of Makkah, and the Sarawat Mountains extending from west of Makkah down to the Yemen borders. Uromastyx o. ornata occurs on the Sinai Peninsula and northwestern Saudi Arabia as well as at the extreme southern tip of Palestine. Wilms and B£¿hme [2] discussed the overlapping distribution of the two subspecies. The authors found that occurrence of both phenotypes broadly overlaps in the mountains of western Saudi Arabia, based on specimens of U. o. ornata from inside the range of U. o. philbyi at the vicinity of Jeddah. These localities are 800¨C1300£¿km further south from the type locality of U. o. ornata.
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijg/2012/851379/