TY  - JOUR
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1  - Schneider, Anja R. R.
A1  - Havenstein, Katja
A1  - Blanck, Torsten
A1  - Meier, Elmar
A1  - Raffel, Martina
A1  - Zwartepoorte, Henk
A1  - Plath, Martin
T1  - New microsatellite markers allow high-resolution taxon delimitation in critically endangered Asian box turtles, genus Cuora
JF  - Salamandra : German journal of herpetology
N2  - We isolated and characterized 16 new di- and tetranudeotide microsatellite markers for the critically endangered Asian box turtle genus Cuora, focusing on the "Cuora trifasciata" species complex. The new markers were then used to analyse genetic variability and divergence amongst five described species within this complex, namely C. aurocapitata (n = 18), C. cyclornata (n = 31), C. pani (n = 6), C. trifasciata (n = 58), and C. zhoui (n = 7). Our results support the view that all five species represent valid taxa. Within two species (C. trifasciata and C. cyclornata), two distinct morphotypes were corroborated by microsatellite divergence. For three individuals, morphologically identified as being of hybrid origin, the hybrid status was confirmed by our genetic analysis. Our results confirm the controversial species (Cuora aurocapitata, C. cyclornata) and subspecies/morphotypes (C. cyclornata meieri, C. trifasciata cf. trifasciata) to be genetically distinct, which has critical implications for conservation strategies.
KW  - Testudines
KW  - Cuora
KW  - box turtles
KW  - captive breeding
KW  - conservation units
KW  - microsatellites
Y1  - 2014
SN  - 0036-3375
VL  - 50
IS  - 3
SP  - 139
EP  - 146
PB  - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde
CY  - Darmstadt
ER  -