......................................................................................................................................................... ii OPSOMMING .................................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................................. xii CHAPTER 1 ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 2 ....................................................................................................................................................... 12 Phylogeographic occurrence of Meroles knoxii suggests influences of historic sea level fluctuations and contemporary climatic gradients ..................................................................................................................... 12 2.