Genetic Evidence for Premature Taxonomic Inflation in Middle Eastern Tortoises

The wide-ranging spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) has recently been split into a complex of species (nine in the Middle East). Because T. graeca is a taxon of conservation concern, an accurate understanding of major evolutionary lineages in this taxon is important for guiding conservation strategies. We sequenced a rapidly evolving mitochondrial marker for 30 specimens of Testudo graeca from localities tied to the newly proposed morphology-based names in the Middle East. Our data reveal major inconsistencies between morphological and molecular groupings and demonstrate that taxonomic schemes based solely on either data set are problematic. Given the extremely low variation (as little as 0%) between newly recognized species, we consider T. graeca in the Middle East as a single species pending further study. We strongly recommend that future systematic studies should strive to compare different data types to avoid misleading taxonomic changes.