Accepted by S. Carranza: 4 Aug. 2014; published: 8 Sept. 2014 ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Copyright © 2014 Magnolia Press Zootaxa 3860 (4): 379–395 www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article 379 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3860.4.6 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7F7EF005-6D3E-4680-8EE6-3772DB04C337 Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Acanthodactylus Fitzinger, 1834 (Reptilia: Lacertidae) in Iran, inferred from mtDNA Sequences NASTARAN HEIDARI 1,2 , ESKANDAR RASTEGAR-POUYANI 3 , NASRULLAH RASTEGAR-POUYANI 1 & HIVA FAIZI 1 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, 6714967346 Kermanshah, Iran, 2 Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biological Science, Kharazmi University. Tehran, Iran 3 Department of Biology, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran Abstract Phylogenetic relationships of Iranian Acanthodactylus species were investigated using 1407 bp of mitochondrial DNA in- cluding 606 bp of cytochrome b and 801 bp of NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4). Analyses done with maximum parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian inference included 67 specimens from 27 geographically distinct locali- ties in Iran. Our molecular results proposed three clear and geographically isolated clades by their phylogenetic positions and genetic differences. These three major clades are: (1) A. micropholis+ A. grandis+ A. khamirensis; (2) A. blanfordi+ A. schmidti+ Acanthodactylus sp 1; (3) A. nilsoni+ A. boskianus + Acanthodactylus sp 2 . The phylogenetic analyses of the genus did not group A. grandis with the remaining species of the A. boskianus group and clustered it along with A. khami- rensis within the A. micropholis group. In addition, phylogenetic results revealed a monophyletic status for A. schmidti and A. micropholis groups. Molecular clock approach indicated that the most recent divergence event splits A. micropholis from A. khamirensis about 2 MYA and results of dispersal-vicariance analyses showed that this diversification occurred by dispersal event rather than vicariance. Results of Reconstruct Ancestral State in Phylogenies (RASP) showed that Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) of A. micropholis, A. blanfordi and A. sp 1 originated in eastern Iran. The first diver- sification of the genus in Iran most likely occurred between 8.5–9 MYA corresponding with the hypothesis that the genus has entered Iran long after the complete uplifting of the Zagros Mts. (10–12 MYA) which limited its dispersal only to the Persian Gulf shores and western slopes of the Zagros Mts. Key words: Lacertidae Acanthodactylus, Mitochondrial genes, Cytochrome b, ND4, Phylogeny, Biogeography, Iran Introduction Nine genera and 41 species of lacertid lizards occur in Iran (Rastegar Pouyani et al. 2008; Ahmadzadeh et al. 2012; Heidari et al. 2013). One of these genera is Acanthodactylus, which is Saharo-Sindian in its distribution (Anderson, 1999). Of these, so far, seven species have been documented from Iran: Acanthodactylus blanfordi Boulenger, 1918, A. boskianus (Daudin, 1802), A. grandis Boulenger, 1909, A. micropholis Blanford, 1874; A. nilsoni Rastegar-Pouyani, 1998, A. schmidti Haas, 1957, and recently, A. khamirensis Heydari, Rastegar-Pouyani, Rastegar-Pouyani and Rajabizadeh, 2013. Current distribution pattern of Acanthodactylus species in Iran shows a great potential role of the Zagros Mountains in forming and diversifying its species to a great extent, especially along western slopes of the mountain chain. This mountain chain has played a pivotal role in modeling distribution patterns of various taxa from its emergence to present day (Macey et al. 1998, 2000; Rastegar-Pouyani, 1999a, b, c; Rastegar-Pouyani & Nilson 2002; Rastegar-Pouyani et al. 2009). The effect of the Zagros Mountains in modeling the evolutionary history of taxa distributed in its western and eastern slopes is a prominent biogeographic question that should be addressed by studying distributional patterns of different species in the area. The Zagros mountainous ecosystem can be a major physical barrier to the distribution of species that are not rock dwellers and thus unable to live in this type of habitat. Fringed-toed lizard genus, Acanthodactylus, is an interesting case to address the influence of this mountainous ecosystem on the phylogeography and taxonomy of its