Comparative phylogeography of the five Greek vole species infers the existence of multiple South Balkan subrefugia

Thanou, Evanthia; Tryfonopoulos, George; Chondropoulos, B.P.; Fraguedakis-Tsolis, Stella

doi:10.1080/11250003.2011.651163

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The first group corresponds to sister lineages that segregated recently and show evidence of past hybridization (Bastos‐Silveira, Santos, Monarca, Mathias, & Heckel, ). The second group includes relatively few sequences of a much diverged lineage (Thanou, Tryfonopoulos, Chondropoulos, & Fraguedakis‐Tsolis, ), but morphometric analysis was also unable to discriminate them (Kryštufek & Vohralík, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social but lonely: Species delimitation of social voles and the evolutionary history of the onlyMicrotusspecies living in Africa

Thanou

Paragamian²,

Lymberakis

2019

J Zool Syst Evol Res

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The social vole of Cyrenaica, Libya, is the only extant representative of the Cricetidae family found in Africa. Its taxonomic status has been under debate, partly due to the problematic systematics of the entire group of social voles and partly due to the lack of morphological and molecular data from Cyrenaican specimens. In this study, we applied ancient DNA protocols to produce three cytochrome b (cytb) sequences of Cyrenaican voles and built a phylogenetic reconstruction (195 sequences in total) incorporating all available cytb sequences of the remaining social voles, other representatives of the genus Microtus and closely related cricetids. We used this phylogeny to test the performance of the model‐based, single‐locus, species delimitation approach implemented in mPTP and delimited nine species of social voles. Among them are the Cyrenaican vole, Microtus mustersi and its sister species M. guentheri, distributed along the Mediterranean coasts of southwestern Asia. Biogeographical reconstruction of ancestral area and molecular clock estimations of the time since the divergence of the two sister lineages suggest that their common ancestor dispersed into Africa through a coastal route and was isolated in Cyrenaica as a result of population fragmentation associated with Middle Pleistocenic pluvial/interpluvial cycles. Geographic isolation triggered the speciation process, but species distribution modeling gave evidence of subsequent niche divergence; M. guentheri has adapted to the xeric conditions of its distributional area, while M. mustersi benefited from the milder Cyrenaican climate. The Cyrenaican vole is a relict species more than 200,000 years old, has a small and isolated distribution and probably merits conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social but lonely: Species delimitation of social voles and the evolutionary history of the onlyMicrotusspecies living in Africa

Thanou

Paragamian²,

Lymberakis

2019

J Zool Syst Evol Res

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“…These authors also stated that Microtus dogramacii (Kefelioğlu & Kryštufek 1999), which is distributed in western Anatolia with 2n = 48 chromosomes, and Microtus guentheri are closely related species. Similarly, Thanou et al (2012) considered the Greece, Turkish Thrace and western Anatolia populations to be Microtus hartingi and the Syria and Israel populations to be Microtus guentheri based on the cytochrome-b gene. Yiğit et al (2012) examined features of the fur, skull and baculum and suggested that the Bulgaria and Turkish Thrace populations be classified as Microtus hartingi according to the priority rule, and they named the western Anatolia populations Microtus lydius as a valid taxon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The voles of the "Guentheri Group" are species with 2n = 54 chromosomes (Golenishchev et al 2002), and it has traditionally been accepted that Microtus guentheri (Danford & Alston 1880), whose type location is Türkoğlu (Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey), is distributed in the southeastern Balkans, Turkey, Syria, Israel and a limited area of northern Lebanon (Ellerman & Morrison-Scott 1951;Niethammer & Krapp 1982;Harrison 1991;Wilson & Reeder 2005;Aulagnier 2009). Nevertheless, morphological, karyological and systematic studies have revealed the complex taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships among the species in the Guentheri Group Kryštufek et al , 2012Thanou et al 2012;Yiğit et al 2012;Zima et al 2013;Markov et al 2014). Based on these studies, the three major taxonomic factors defining the Turkish Guentheri Group are as follows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this respect, the Thrace and western Anatolia populations have been separated for a long time, and they have a high probability of becoming different species. Genetic studies using mt-cyb markers with a small number of samples were performed by Jaarola et al (2004), Kryštufek et al ( , 2012 and Thanou et al (2012), and they provide some evidence that the western Anatolia and Thrace populations are the same species as Microtus hartingi.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phylogenetic assessment of voles of the Guentheri Group (Mammalia: Microtus) in Turkish Thrace and Western Anatolia

Yiğit¹,

Çetintürk²,

Çolak³

2017

The European Zoological Journal

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Speciation and the phylogenetic relationships of species in the Guentheri Group in Turkey, which have a diploid chromosome number of 54, were studied using mitochondrial mt-co1, mt-cyb and 12S rRNA gene markers. A Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) tree clearly separated the Thrace and western and southeastern Anatolia populations. Genetic distance values (d) appeared relatively high in the southeastern Anatolia population (Microtus guentheri) from other populations, but rather low distance values were found between Thrace and western Anatolia populations. Our findings support the earlier classification of M. guentheri as a different species that previously split from the basal population of western Anatolia. However, Kimura two-parameter (K2P) values greater than 10% are generally accepted for specification, and they were lower than this in all groups. So, the genetic distances of the Turkish Thrace and western Anatolia populations do not support the suggestion that the western Anatolia population is a separate species. But this value is sometimes very low in newly evolved and approximate species. Thus, the populations of Turkish Thrace and western Anatolia are tentatively referred to Microtus hartingi due to the geographical separation of the Dardanelle and Bosphorus Straits for fossorial and surface-dwelling species even in the glacial connections.

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“…Communication between the populations of Strandhza and Rhodopes Mountain is not established. Probably the voles from Rhodopes locality are closely with these from neighboring Greece, where the M. h. hartingi subspecies range is narrow, but there is evidence that the voles are settled and expanded its territory (Thanou et al, 2012). Therefore, new data are needed to explain the mechanisms that have led to the current interspecies' structure of the species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral differentiation and hybridization of the European and Asian forms of Harting’ vole Microtus hartingi (Rodentia, Arvicolinae)

Zorenko¹,

Atanasov²,

Golenishchev³

2016

Rus.J.Theriol.

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The final isolation of Europe from Asia took place comparatively not long ago-in the early Holocene-late Pleistocene which led to the division of Microtus hartingi area into two isolated parts (Asian-Central and West Anatolia and European-southern Balkans). The Northern Mediterranean was influenced by considerable climatic and habitat fluctuations that caused fragmentation of a potential area of Microtus hartingi and promoted microevolutionary processes. The purpose of the work was evaluation of the range disjunction influence on diversification of the species. We analyzed (1) copulatory behavior, (2) exploratory activity and ability to overcome the stress, (3) growth and development of pups, and also (4) hybridization success in the two nominal forms of M. hartingi-M. h. lydius and M. h. strandzensis. Considerable changes in behavior of individuals of two subspecies were obtained. As a result of the hybridization of the two forms, viable and prolific posterity of F1 was received, but the subsequent cross breeding including backcrossing sterility of males and high mortality of posterity began to be established. The testes and the epididymis of the hybrids were with smaller weight in comparison with parents' subspecies, especially M. h. lydius, reduced quantity of spermatozoa and small percent mobile of them which confirmed the lower level of spermatogenesis. We assume that evolution of the phenotypic characteristics of the voles was supported by gene drift and probably by the selection, induced by the stress more strongly, than changes in the genotypic characteristics, e.g. distinctions on cytochrome b and the karyotype are not significant. This can be explained as an influence of specific ecological conditions and fragmentation of the habitats in the Northern Mediterranean Region. Until recently M. h. lydius and M. h. strandzensis were considered as subspecies. However, they reached considerable degree of a divergence and the question of their specific status has to be considered additionally.

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Comparative phylogeography of the five Greek vole species infers the existence of multiple South Balkan subrefugia

Cited by 23 publications

References 33 publications

Social but lonely: Species delimitation of social voles and the evolutionary history of the onlyMicrotusspecies living in Africa

Social but lonely: Species delimitation of social voles and the evolutionary history of the onlyMicrotusspecies living in Africa

Phylogenetic assessment of voles of the Guentheri Group (Mammalia: Microtus) in Turkish Thrace and Western Anatolia

Behavioral differentiation and hybridization of the European and Asian forms of Harting’ vole Microtus hartingi (Rodentia, Arvicolinae)

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