Phylogeography of Psammodromus algirus (Lacertidae) revisited: systematic implications

Relationships among Psammodromus algirus populations from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, including recently described P. jeanneae and P. manuelae, were estimated from mitochondrial DNA gene sequences. This enlarged data set confirmed the presence of two divergent eastern and western mitochondrial DNA lineages on the Iberian Peninsula, the distributions for which are separated by a narrow zone of contact across the centre of the Peninsula. Paratypes of P. jeanneae and topotypes of P. manuelae represent southern and northern clades of the western lineage, respectively, making P. algirus paraphyletic. This, together with the low level of allozymic and mitochondrial DNA substructuring within western populations, is not sufficient to retain P. jeanneae and P. manuelae as valid species, and we relegate them to the status of junior synonyms of P. algirus.