Origin of diversity of Goniurosaurus species from ecological niche evolution model, and warnings under impact of climate change

06/12/2024

The evolution and adaptation of organisms in nature still have many mysteries and always urge scientists to constantly decode. In particular, for endangered species of the genus Goniurosaurus, a better understanding of their natural history can contribute to the conservation of the species against the potential impacts of climate change in the future. A group of Vietnamese scientists from the Institute of Genome Research, Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, University of Natural Sciences in collaboration with Cologne Zoo, Koenig Bonn Museum - Germany, La Sierra University - USA, and Sun Yat-Sen University - China, conducted field surveys and built models to predict the biogeographic origin, and climate models to predict the evolutionary origin of the climatic niche of Goniurosaurus species. This is the basis for making predictions about the vulnerability level of species under the impact of climate change in the future.

To date, the world has recorded 26 species of Goniurosaurus divided into 4 groups including kuroiwae, lichtenfelderi, luii and yingdeensis. These species are scattered in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, some islands and mainland in South China and the northeastern provinces of Vietnam. Vietnam has recorded five species of Goniurosaurus, all of which are assessed as endangered, listed in the IUCN Red List, Appendix II of the CITES Convention on the prohibition of trade in wild animals and plants, and Government Decree 84/2021/ND-CP in Vietnam. With its high species diversity, endemism and adaptive evolution to microhabitat conditions within a narrow distribution range, the genus Goniurosaurus is a representative model for studying the complexity of the evolutionary process of lizards in general.

Phylogenetic tree of the genus Goniurosaurus with chronological history and biogeographic origin

The phylogenetic tree of 24 species of Goniurosaurus was constructed based on molecular data of four gene segments including two mitochondrial genes (16S, Cytb) and two nuclear genes (CMOS, Rag1). The research team estimated the first appearance of the ancestors of Goniurosaurus species in the Eocene epoch at about 45.3 million years ago, with a geographical origin in the mainland of Eurasia. The four monophyletic groups began to diverge in the mid-Miocene from 13.4 to 7.7 million years ago and continued to diverge and speciate in the early Pleistocene about 2 million years ago. Notably, the ancestors of the two monophyletic groups lichtenfelderi and kuroiwae are from the islands of Hainan, China and Kyukyu, Japan, respectively.

Conservative climate niche evolution model and analysis of the genus Goniurosaurus

Analysis of the climate niche among the species groups shows that there is no spatial overlap. In particular, the ecological niche space of the yingdeensis species group is completely separate from the remaining groups. Analysis of climate evolution records two evolutionary models in the speciation process of the genus Goniurosaurus, specifically: the split climate evolution model recorded with G. lichtenfelderi; G. catbaensis; G. kwangsiensis and G. liboensis, while the conservative evolutionary pattern was observed in the remaining species. With all species of Eyelid Geckos forming and existing in the conservative evolutionary pattern, they are particularly vulnerable to human impacts and climate change. Therefore, the study recommends higher conservation priorities and protective measures to limit the extreme impacts of climate change in the near future for these genus Goniurosaurus.

The results of the study are published in the Springer Nature system, in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation. Related article link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-023-02564-4

Translated by Tuyet Nhung
Link to Vietnamese version

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