Sheremetyeva I.N., Popova A.A., Sheremetyev I.S., Nesterenko V.A., Maslova I.V.
Russian Journal of Genetics 2026; 62(1): 178–185
For the first time, the variability of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b (cytb) gene fragment was analyzed in the Mountain Grass Lizard Takydromus wolteri Fischer, 1885, inhabiting the south of the Russian Far East. Higher haplotype (97.6%) and nucleotide (1.4%) diversity indices were revealed in this species compared to the Amur Grass Lizard Takydromus amurensis Peters, 1881. The obtained data indicate a loss of some diversity in the past due to the reduction of the species’ range to multiple refugia, in which five phylogenetic groups were formed. The refugia are located on the coasts of the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea. One of them is located in the Prikhankaiskaya Lowland of Primorsky Krai. The territory of the south of the Russian Far East was colonized by the Mountain Grass Lizard from two refugia.
