Taxonomic Status of Fowlea tytleri (Blyth, 1863) from the Andaman Islands

Authors

  • Gunther Köhler Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt a.M., GERMANY
  • Ni Lar Than East Yangon University, Thanlyin, Yangon, MYANMAR
  • Panupong Thammachoti Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University; Bangkok 10330, THAILAND

Keywords:

Biodiversity studies, mtDNA, reptiles, Southeast Asia, Xenochrophis

Abstract

The analysis of mtDNA data (16S ribosomal RNA) shows that the Fowlea (formerly Xenochrophis) of the Andaman islands, formerly referred to as Fowlea (or Xenochrophis) tytleri are conspecific with F. piscator (Schneider, 1799). Specimens from the Andaman islands form a mixed clade together with individuals from the mainland and differ from the latter by genetic distances of 0.2–0.5% (except for 1.7% from a single mainland specimen that also differs from other mainland samples of F. piscator by 1.4–1.5% genetic distance). The genetic distances between individuals of F. piscator and its supposed sister taxon F. flavipunctatus vary from 4.8 to 7.3%. In pholidosis, F. tytleri and F. piscator are essentially identical. Based on the evidence from mtDNA and morphological data (the latter taken from the literature), we formally place Fowlea tytleri (Blyth, 1863) in the synonymy of F. piscator (Schneider, 1799).

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Published

2021-12-30

How to Cite

[1]
Köhler, G. , Than, N.L. and Thammachoti, P. 2021. Taxonomic Status of Fowlea tytleri (Blyth, 1863) from the Andaman Islands. Tropical Natural History. 21, 3 (Dec. 2021), 410–417.

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Original Articles