The distribution and taxonomy of the agamid genus Laudakia in Jordan: morphological and genetic differentiation

Species with broad geographical distributions may exhibit phenotypic variation across their range. Starred rock agamas of the genus Laudakia are highly polymorphic and wide-ranging, with 21 currently recognized species. We investigated the intraspecific diversity within L. vulgaris and its presently recognized subspecies in Jordan (Laudakia vulgaris picea, L. v. brachydactyla, and L. vulgaris ssp.) and their correspondence to distinct evolutionary lineages using morphological and genetic variation. The morphological patterns of the three traditionally known subspecies showed character polymorphism and broad morphological overlap across their regions; these patterns were inconsistent with the phylogenetic analyses, which supported the presence of only two subspecies in Jordan (Laudakia vulgaris picea and L. v. ssp., but not L. v. brachydactyla). The results undermine the coherence between phenotypic and genotypic methods and highlight the shortcomings of morphologically defining subspecies.