Systematics, Phylogeny and Biogeography of the gecko genus Hemidactylus (Reptilia, Gekkonidae) in Arabia and the Near East.

(in English) Until relatively recently, the gecko genus Hemidactylus was considered to contain only several hard-to-distinguish species in the eastern Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula. This was mostly given by the apparent morphological uniformity of the geckos in combination with their often synanthropic lifestyle, which facilitated the dispersal of some of the species over large ranges. However, our understanding of the diversity of the genus was about to change with the onset of molecular phylogenetic methods that became extensively available and routinely applied to tackle the questions of systematics and phylogeny of all kinds of organisms. This thesis focuses on resolving the phylogeny, systematics, and biogeography of the Arabian Hemidactylus. Using an unprecedented sampling of over 500 samples of more than 40 Hemidactylus species from the eastern Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula, Socotra, North and East Africa and Iran and sequencing up to six genes (two mitochondrial - 12S rRNA, cyt b; four nuclear - cmos, mc1r, rag1, rag2) I reconstructed the time-calibrated phylogeny of the arid clade of Hemidactylus, inferred its complex biogeographical history in the region, and detected seven potentially new species. The results of the biogeographic analyses indicate that the current..