Skeletal variation in extant species enables systematic identification of New Zealand’s large, subfossil diplodactylids

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dc.contributor.authorScarsbrook, L.
dc.contributor.authorSherratt, E.
dc.contributor.authorHitchmough, R.A.
dc.contributor.authorRawlence, N.J.
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractNew Zealand’s diplodactylid geckos exhibit high species-level diversity, largely independent of discernible osteological changes. Consequently, systematic affinities of isolated skeletal elements (fossils) are primarily determined by comparisons of size, particularly in the identification of Hoplodactylus duvaucelii, New Zealand’s largest extant gecko species. Here, three-dimensional geometric morphometrics of maxillae (a common fossilized element) was used to determine whether consistent shape and size differences exist between genera, and if cryptic extinctions have occurred in subfossil ‘Hoplodactylus cf. duvaucelii’. Sampling included 13 diplodactylid species from five genera, and 11 Holocene subfossil ‘H. cf. duvaucelii’ individuals. We found phylogenetic history was the most important predictor of maxilla morphology among extant diplodactylid genera. Size comparisons could only differentiate Hoplodactylus from other genera, with the remaining genera exhibiting variable degrees of overlap. Six subfossils were positively identified as H. duvaucelii, confirming their proposed Holocene distribution throughout New Zealand. Conversely, five subfossils showed no clear affinities with any modern diplodactylid genera, implying either increased morphological diversity in mainland ‘H. cf. duvaucelii’ or the presence of at least one extinct, large, broad-toed diplodactylid species.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityLachie Scarsbrook, Emma Sherratt, Rodney A. Hitchmough, and Nicolas J. Rawlence
dc.identifier.citationBMC Ecology and Evolution, 2021; 21(1):67-1-67-10
dc.identifier.doi10.1186/s12862-021-01808-7
dc.identifier.issn2730-7182
dc.identifier.issn2730-7182
dc.identifier.orcidSherratt, E. [0000-0003-2164-7877]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/145809
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherBMC
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-021-01808-7
dc.subjectDiplodactylidae; Ecomorphology; Geometric morphometrics; Hoplodactylus duvaucelii; Taxonomy
dc.subject.meshAnimals
dc.subject.meshHumans
dc.subject.meshLizards
dc.subject.meshPhylogeny
dc.subject.meshFossils
dc.subject.meshNew Zealand
dc.titleSkeletal variation in extant species enables systematic identification of New Zealand’s large, subfossil diplodactylids
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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