European phylogeography of the common frog (Rana temporaria): routes of postglacial colonization into the British Isles, and evidence for an Irish glacial refugium

Late Pleistocene fossils and the future distribution of Rana temporaria (Amphibia, Anura) along the Apennine Peninsula (Italy)

“…R. temporaria was studied to understand phylogenetic relationship between population and range modification related to climate change (see among others, Palo et al 2004;Teacher et al 2009;Veith et al 2003;Zeisset and Beebee 2008). Southern Europe has always been considered a fundamental glacial refugium, the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas in particular.…”

“…Southern Europe has always been considered a fundamental glacial refugium, the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas in particular. Taxa like R. temporaria have used these refugia as areas from which expand northward: the complex of the European population seems to be composed of just two lineages, a western lineage and an eastern one (Palo et al 2004;Teacher et al 2009). Stefani et al (2012) specifically analyzed the phylogeographic history and genetic variability of R. temporaria in Italy and identified in the Italian peninsula the principal refugium of the western lineage; in order to explain the complex genetic pattern of Italian population and the differences between the alpine area and the Apennine one, Stefani and co-workers turned to the refugia-within-refugia model (Gómez and Lunt 2006).…”

“…In recent years, phylogeographic studies have used genetic and molecular methods for investigating the history of the distribution of various taxa of amphibians (among others: Duellman 1999; Riberon et al 2001;Zeisset and Beebee 2001;Bonnet and Chippindale 2004;Vences et al 2004;Alexandrino et al 2007;Crottini et al 2007;Recuero et al 2007;Vences and Wake 2007;Stöck et al 2008;Shepard and Burbrink 2009;Mattoccia et al 2011;Chiari et al 2012). As far as Europe is concerned, Rana temporaria has been the subject of several papers (Veith et al 2003;Palo et al 2004;Gómez and Lunt 2006;Zeisset and Beebee 2008;Teacher et al 2009;Stefani et al 2012), probably because its current broad range (Gasc et al 1997;Kuzmin 1999;Sillero et al 2014) and the fact that it is adapted to relatively cold environments render this species a good model for evaluating the range changes that occurred during and after the Pleistocene coolings. The fossil record is only marginally taken into consideration in these papers, but it could potentially provide relevant information thanks to the fact that it represents the only way to directly access to the chronological and geographic dimensions of biological events occurred in the past.…”

After the Ice Age: The Impact of Post-Glacial Dispersal on the Phylogeography of a Small Mammal, Muscardinus avellanarius

“…This period was characterized by extreme climatic fluctuations, which had a major role in shaping contemporary biogeography (Emerson and Hewitt, 2005). There is evidence that when climatic conditions were relatively extreme during the Pleistocene ice ages, temperate species in continental Europe were displaced to southern areas, for example to refugia in the Iberian and Apennine peninsulas, and the Balkan regions (Hewitt, 2004;Teacher et al, 2009). In order to understand how evolutionary processes have shaped biodiversity, it is useful to study how historical range contractions and expansions, potential admixture between lineages, and associated genetic processes have influenced current spatial patterns of this diversity.…”

“…However, there is not clear evidence supporting a single source of the hypothesized dispersal. For example, there is evidence that some species share a most recent common ancestor with populations in Eastern Europe, such is the case in the pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus; Vega et al, 2010) and the pool frog (Rana lessonae; Zeisset and Beebee, 2001), while other species appear to have originated from Western European populations, such as the common frog (R. temporaria; Teacher et al, 2009). Alternatively, water voles (Arvicola terrestris) show English and Welsh haplotypes nested within Eastern European clades from Iberian refugia and Scottish haplotypes nest within a Western European clade (Piertney et al, 2005), suggesting multiple episodes of colonization.…”