Cryptic diversity within the endemic Prehensile-tailed gecko Urocotyledon inexpectata across the Seychelles Islands: patterns of phylogeographic structure and isolation at the multilocus level

Deciphering the process of genetic differentiation of species with insular distributions is relevant for biogeographic and conservation reasons. Despite its importance as old gondwanic islands and part of the Western Indian Ocean biodiversity hotspot, little is known concerning the genetic structure of taxa from the Seychelles islands. We have examined patterns of structure and isolation within Urocotyledon inexpectata (Reptilia: Geckkonidae), an endemic species from this archipelago. Genetic diversity was screened from populations across the archipelago for both mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Gene genealogies and model-based inference were used to explore patterns and timings of isolation between the main lineages. High levels of genetic diversity were found for the mitochondrial and some of the nuclear markers. This species harbours at least two highly differentiated lineages, exclusively distributed across the northern and southern groups of islands. The main split between these wa...