Evolution of East Asian Forest Kingdom Has Increased the Number of Asian Grass Lizard (Takydromus) Species

The hypothesis about the possibility of ecological speciation in Asian Grass Lizards of the genus Takydromus was tested, and the influence of the evolution of East Asian forests on the phylogeny of the genus was assessed. For the first time, a haplotype network was constructed for the genus based on the variability of partial sequences of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene, which confirmed the division of 18 Takydromus species into two ecological forms: forest and grassland, the evolution of which proceeded in parallel. It was shown that the development of forest biomes by representatives of the genus Takydromus led to an increase in species diversity within the genus.