2026-06-29T01:19:27Zhttps://docta.ucm.es/rest/oai/request

oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/1125752025-07-30T17:40:06Zcom_20.500.14352_14col_20.500.14352_15

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Megia Palma, Rodrigo Manuel author Palomar García, Gemma author Martínez, Javier author Antunes, Bernardo author Dudek, Katarzyna author Zagar, Anamarija author Serén, Nina author Carretero, Miguel Ángel author Babik, Wieslaw author Merino, Santiago author 2024 Host abundance might favour the maintenance of a high phylogenetic diversity of some parasites via rapid transmission rates. Blood parasites of insular lizards represent a good model to test this hypothesis because these parasites can be particularly prevalent in islands and host lizards highly abundant. We applied deep amplicon sequencing and analysed environmental predictors of blood parasite prevalence and phylogenetic diversity in the endemic lizard Gallotia galloti across 24 localities on Tenerife, an island in the Canary archipelago that has experienced increasing warming and drought in recent years. Parasite prevalence assessed by microscopy was over 94%, and a higher proportion of infected lizards was found in warmer and drier locations. A total of 33 different 18s rRNA parasite haplotypes were identified, and the phylogenetic analyses indicated that they belong to two genera of Adeleorina (Apicomplexa: Coccidia), with Karyolysus as the dominant genus. The most important predictor of between-locality variation in parasite phylogenetic diversity was the abundance of lizard hosts. We conclude that a combination of climatic and host demographic factors associated with an insular syndrome may be favouring a rapid transmission of blood parasites among lizards on Tenerife, which may favour the maintenance of a high phylogenetic diversity of parasites. Megía‐Palma R, Palomar G, Martínez J, Antunes B, Dudek K, Žagar A, Serén N, Carretero MA, Babik W, Merino S. Lizard host abundances and climatic factors explain phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of blood parasites on an oceanic island. Molecular Ecology 2024;33:e17276. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17276. 0962-1083 10.1111/mec.17276 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/112575 1365-294X https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17276 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17276 Lizard host abundances and climatic factors explain phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of blood parasites on an oceanic island