How mislabelled voucher specimens can impede species conservation: the case study of the Perth slider, Lerista lineata

Abstract Voucher specimens are central to studying threatened taxa. However, errors in their locality data can distort understandings of these species’ distributions, and in extreme cases may even misguide assessments of species’ conservation statuses. The Perth slider, Lerista lineata , represents an informative exemplar of this situation. Although the IUCN Red List classifies it as Endangered, two Australian jurisdictions used the 1994 collection of three specimens, purportedly from Woodleigh (~ 750 km north of the species’ core range in Perth), as evidence for a broader distribution and thus assigned a Least Concern status. Some have suggested the Woodleigh collection locality is erroneous, representing misidentifications or cataloguing errors, meaning the species is restricted to Perth and therefore Endangered. Here, we clarify L. lineata ’s distribution by comparing the Woodleigh and Perth-based specimens through genetic and morphological analyses, and reassess the species’ conservation status. Phylogenetic analyses revealed the Woodleigh specimens were nested within the species’ Perth subpopulation, and were more closely related to Perth-based specimens than to each other. Morphological analyses (in linear morphometrics, scale counts, and patterning) showed negligible differences between subpopulations. We therefore conclude the Woodleigh specimens are from Perth, and represent locality cataloguing errors. From the updated distribution data, we found L. lineata qualifies for listing as Endangered under IUCN Red List Criterion B (B1ab[i, ii, iii, iv, v], B2ab[i, ii, iii, iv, v]). Overall, our results highlight how simple documentation errors during specimen collection can profoundly impact species conservation efforts over an extended period. Ultimately, similar cases to L. lineata (where documentation errors impede conservation) likely occur more broadly.