Phylogeny, phylogeography, and conservation of a rediscovered gecko from the Galápagos Islands

Omar Torres-Carvajal; Paula A. Castaño; Enrique Rincón; Fernando Ayala-Varela; Karl Campbell; Wilson Cabrera; Francisco Moreno

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0324659

Phylogeny, phylogeography, and conservation of a rediscovered gecko from the Galápagos Islands

Omar Torres-Carvajal^*
, Paula A. Castaño
, Enrique Rincón
, Fernando Ayala-Varela
, Karl Campbell
, Wilson Cabrera
, Francisco Moreno

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The rediscovery of species in iconic conservation sites like the Galápagos is eye-catching and can lead to quick and effective conservation actions. With 11 species occurring on most islands, Galápagos leaf-toed geckos (Phyllodactylus) are among the least known terrestrial vertebrates of the archipelago. Strikingly, reliable records of Phyllodactylus from Rábida Island prior to this study are limited to Holocene subfossils and a single photograph from 2012. Here we report the first vouchered specimens of Phyllodactylus from Rábida and present their phylogenetic and phylogeographic affinities with other gecko populations in the archipelago. Despite taxonomic uncertainty, we recognize Rábida gecko populations as a separate ESU within P. maresi, which also occurs in nearby islands (Santiago, Bartolomé, Mares), as well as in Marchena. Finally, we suggest that Rábida gecko populations benefited from the eradication of invasive rodents, which facilitated their rediscovery and the collection efforts reported here.

Original language	English
Article number	e0324659
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	20
Issue number	6 June
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324659
State	Published - Jun 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Torres-Carvajal et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding

Funding: Field work and sample collection efforts were supported by Island Conservation (PAC), Galápagos Conservation Trust (PAC), Galápagos National Park Directorate (FM), and Re:wild (KC), while laboratory work (OTC) was funded by Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (project QINV0194-IINV529010100).

Funders	Funder number
Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador	QINV0194-IINV529010100

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title = "Phylogeny, phylogeography, and conservation of a rediscovered gecko from the Gal{\'a}pagos Islands",

abstract = "The rediscovery of species in iconic conservation sites like the Gal{\'a}pagos is eye-catching and can lead to quick and effective conservation actions. With 11 species occurring on most islands, Gal{\'a}pagos leaf-toed geckos (Phyllodactylus) are among the least known terrestrial vertebrates of the archipelago. Strikingly, reliable records of Phyllodactylus from R{\'a}bida Island prior to this study are limited to Holocene subfossils and a single photograph from 2012. Here we report the first vouchered specimens of Phyllodactylus from R{\'a}bida and present their phylogenetic and phylogeographic affinities with other gecko populations in the archipelago. Despite taxonomic uncertainty, we recognize R{\'a}bida gecko populations as a separate ESU within P. maresi, which also occurs in nearby islands (Santiago, Bartolom{\'e}, Mares), as well as in Marchena. Finally, we suggest that R{\'a}bida gecko populations benefited from the eradication of invasive rodents, which facilitated their rediscovery and the collection efforts reported here.",

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AU - Campbell, Karl

AU - Cabrera, Wilson

AU - Moreno, Francisco

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Phylogeny, phylogeography, and conservation of a rediscovered gecko from the Galápagos Islands

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

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