Morphology and genetic variation in the endangered tortoise : distinct lineages or plastron anomalies?

Anecdotal reports indicate the allopatric populations of two subspecies differ in colour variation and plastron pattern, intimating that these may constitute separate evolutionary lineages. We examined the studied taxa both morphologically and genetically to determine the described morphological differences correlated with genetic divergence. Based on the plastron pattern, the study detected three morphologically different having their footmarks in northeast India, bordering international boundaries of Bangladesh and Myanmar. Nevertheless, we found shallow genetic divergence in both mtCOI and mtCytb gene segment among the different morphospecies. This study concludes that the detected plastron anomalies in do not suggest their distinct genetic lineages.