Reptiles, with over 12,500 described species, represent an extremely diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates that have colonized nearly every non-polar ecosystem over more than 240 million years. In the Mediterranean basin, for instance, there are over 350 reptile species. Despite their ecological and evolutionary importance, genomic resources for these animals have historically lagged behind those for mammals and birds.
Recent efforts funded by the CBP have demonstrated the efficiency in obtaining high-quality genomic assemblies for reptiles. The project's second phase aims to scale up the generation of these reference genomes. With only 12 native species remaining to be sequenced, completing the CBP's reptile genomic catalogue would represent a significant advancement, making Reptilia the first major faunal group to be fully genomically characterized within the project's framework.
This initiative, funded by a grant from the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC), will provide an exceptional comparative framework for investigating genomic evolution, chromosomal diversification, adaptation, and biodiversity conservation at a regional scale. The Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF), along with the genome assembly and annotation team at CNAG, led by Dr. Tyler Alioto, will contribute chromosome-level assemblies following the standards of the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP).
