TY - JOUR
T1 - Pleistocene diversification in Morocco and recent demographic expansion in the Mediterranean pond turtle Mauremys leprosa
AU - Arculeo, Marco
AU - Sacco, Francesco
AU - Marrone, Federico
AU - Kehlmaier, Christian
AU - Velo-Antón, Guillermo
AU - Veríssimo, Joana
AU - Teixeira, José
AU - Pereira, Paulo
AU - Znari, Mohamed
AU - Teixeira, José
AU - Naimi, Mohamed
AU - Znari, Mohamed
AU - Naimi, Mohamed
AU - Fritz, Uwe
AU - Stuckas, Heiko
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Quaternary climatic oscillations and geographic barriers have strongly influenced the distribution and diversification of thermophilic species occurring in the Mediterranean Basin. The Western Mediterranean pond turtle, Mauremys leprosa, is widely distributed throughout the Iberian Peninsula, southern France and most of the Maghreb region, with two subspecies currently recognized. In this work, we used 566 samples, including 259 new individuals, across the species range, and sequenced two mitochondrial markers (cytochrome b gene and control region; 163 samples in a concatenated mtDNA dataset) and one nuclear intron (R35; 23 samples representing all identified sublineages) to study the evolutionary history of M. leprosa. We combined phylogenetic methods and phylogeographic continuous diffusion models with spatial analysis. Our results (1) show a high level of genetic structure in Morocco originated during the Pleistocene; (2) reveal two independent population expansion waves from Morocco to Tunisia and to southern Europe, which later expanded throughout the Iberian Peninsula, and (3) identify several secondary contact zones in Morocco. Our study also sheds new light on the role of geographical features (Moroccan mountains ranges and the Strait of Gibraltar) and Pleistocene climatic oscillations in shaping genetic diversity and structure of M. leprosa, and underlines the importance of the Maghreb as a differentiation centre harbouring distinct glacial refugia.
AB - Quaternary climatic oscillations and geographic barriers have strongly influenced the distribution and diversification of thermophilic species occurring in the Mediterranean Basin. The Western Mediterranean pond turtle, Mauremys leprosa, is widely distributed throughout the Iberian Peninsula, southern France and most of the Maghreb region, with two subspecies currently recognized. In this work, we used 566 samples, including 259 new individuals, across the species range, and sequenced two mitochondrial markers (cytochrome b gene and control region; 163 samples in a concatenated mtDNA dataset) and one nuclear intron (R35; 23 samples representing all identified sublineages) to study the evolutionary history of M. leprosa. We combined phylogenetic methods and phylogeographic continuous diffusion models with spatial analysis. Our results (1) show a high level of genetic structure in Morocco originated during the Pleistocene; (2) reveal two independent population expansion waves from Morocco to Tunisia and to southern Europe, which later expanded throughout the Iberian Peninsula, and (3) identify several secondary contact zones in Morocco. Our study also sheds new light on the role of geographical features (Moroccan mountains ranges and the Strait of Gibraltar) and Pleistocene climatic oscillations in shaping genetic diversity and structure of M. leprosa, and underlines the importance of the Maghreb as a differentiation centre harbouring distinct glacial refugia.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10447/206082
M3 - Article
VL - 119
SP - 943
EP - 959
JO - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
JF - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
SN - 0024-4066
ER -