Twenty Years of Molecular Biogeography in the West Mediterranean Islands of Corsica and Sardinia: Lessons Learnt and Future Prospects

Ketmaier, Valerio; Caccone, Adalgisa

doi:10.5772/55458

Cited by 23 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Tectonics in the Mediterranean region during the Oligocene resulted in vicariance events, which are often cited as promoters of speciation (Cunningham & Collins, 1998). Consequently, this well-defined biogeographical region, with its unique fauna and an abundance of information on its past geological history (Ketmaier & Caccone, 2013), is an ideal setting for evolutionary research. Consequently, this well-defined biogeographical region, with its unique fauna and an abundance of information on its past geological history (Ketmaier & Caccone, 2013), is an ideal setting for evolutionary research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unearthing the historical biogeography of Mediterranean earthworms (Annelida: Hormogastridae)

Novo

Fernández

Marchán

et al. 2014

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim The genetic diversity and distribution of earthworm species in the Mediterranean Basin has been influenced by their low vagility, as well as by the basin's complex geological and climatic history. Within this context, our objective was to evaluate the evolutionary history of hormogastrid earthworms by exploring their phylogeny, reconstructing ancestral areas and identifying potential vicariance and dispersal events. Location Western Mediterranean region, encompassing the geographical range of the family Hormogastridae (four genera, 30 species and subspecies). Methods We sampled the easternmost area of the hormogastrid range and integrated 606 new sequences with all the molecular data available from previous studies on the westernmost area. Mitochondrial and nuclear markers were amplified and sequenced, and the hormogastrid phylogeny (using Bayesian and likelihood methods) and networks were investigated. Ancestral‐area reconstructions were implemented in rasp. Results Ancestral‐area reconstructions provided similar results for alternative phylogenetic hypotheses, placing the origin of Hormogastridae between southern France and the north‐eastern Iberian Peninsula, and highlighting north–central Sardinia as a key ancestral area for diversification of eastern Hormogastridae (Hormogaster redii and H. samnitica). Multiple vicariance and dispersal events were detected, indicating a complex evolutionary history. Sardinian populations of H. samnitica and H. redii were not monophyletic but were related to populations from other areas, suggesting that Sardinia is a more complex biogeographical region than anticipated. Our results identified a phylogenetic relationship between the southern Sardinian fauna and that of Sicily, as well as relationships between the fauna of north‐eastern Sardinia and those of the Italian Peninsula and the Tuscan Archipelago. Main conclusions Our results suggest a complex evolutionary history for hormogastrid earthworms, showing the possibility of many dispersal and vicariance events and multiple faunal interchanges between land‐masses, which may reflect the biogeographical complexity of the Mediterranean Basin.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The faunal colonization of Corsica and Sardinia is believed to have occurred in three phases (see examples in Ketmaier & Caccone, 2013). First, the detachment of the Corso-Sardinian microplate from the Iberian Peninsula (pre-Miocene) was responsible for a subsequent origin of endemic species derived from the Iberian ancestors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unearthing the historical biogeography of Mediterranean earthworms (Annelida: Hormogastridae)

Novo

Fernández

Marchán

et al. 2014

Journal of Biogeography

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“…The evolutionary history of the Tyrrhenian wall lizard, Podarcis tiliguerta , is among these examples. The high genetic diversity reported here, along with that observed in other phylogeographic studies, places the Tyrrhenian wall lizard among those species characterized by high genetic diversity regardless of its relatively small distribution (Ketmaier & Caccone, and references therein; Salvi et al ., ). Within Podarcis , such a high intraspecific differentiation is only comparable to some continental species such as P. siculus , P. muralis and P. tauricus (Salvi et al ., ; Psonis et al ., , ; Senczuk et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Later, Quaternary cyclic sea level changes produced transient connections between these two islands. Such a complex geological history, parallels an important number of molecular studies, showing a significant variety of species specific responses, including signatures of Miocene and Pliocene divergences (Salvi et al ., ; Bisconti et al ., ; Ketmaier & Caccone, ); as well as complex Pleistocene evolutionary histories similar to those observed for continental species (Ketmaier et al ., ; Bisconti, Canestrelli & Nascetti, ; Ketmaier & Caccone, ; Salvi, Bisconti & Canestrelli, ; Thibault et al ., ). Corsica and Sardinia are surrounded by hundreds of satellite islands, some of which grouped into “archipelagos”.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of island physiography in maintaining genetic diversity in the endemic Tyrrhenian wall lizard (Podarcis tiliguerta)

et al. 2019

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Sea level oscillations occurred during the Pleistocene have strongly affected islands’ physiography by changing area, elevation, and even the number of islands rising above the sea level. Such changes had direct consequences on island genetic diversity by promoting genetic admixture during glacial marine regressions while fragmentation or even extinctions occurred because of marine transgressions. Here we investigated the effect of islands’ physiographic changes on the mitochondrial diversity of 84 individuals of the Tyrrhenian wall lizard (Podarcis tiliguerta) from different islands and island groups surrounding Corsica and Sardinia. The La Maddalena Archipelago that is the more complex of the studied island groups, showed the highest genetic diversity, while we detected decreasing genetic diversity in island groups with lower number of islands and elevation. The genetic imprint we found seems to have been shaped by eustatic changes occurred in the Mediterranean basin during Mid‐Pleistocene times. Indeed, a relevant component of ancient lineages was found on those island groups among which elevation of at least one island allowed populations to survive during the Mid‐Pleistocene marine transgressions. In contrast, we found evidence of recent gene flow between populations inhabiting islands or island groups characterized by low elevation. Our results suggest that many features such as number of islands and their elevation, may provide predictive information to identify those islands or “archipelagos” that deserve special attention in terms of conservation priority.

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“…Once the theory of plate tectonics spread (Alvarez, ), a reappraisal of vicariance as the leading force occurred, particularly to explain the most distinctive (endemic) components of this insular biota (Baccetti, ). With the advent of molecular phylogenetic approaches, data on several taxonomic groups began to accumulate (Grill, Casula, Lecis, & Menken, ; Ketmaier & Caccone, ), leading to a reconsideration of dispersal events, although vicariance events primed by the microplate disjunction are still regarded by several authors as the main triggers of endemic species formation on the islands (Ketmaier & Caccone, ). Finally, in more recent times, the application of the phylogeographic toolbox to the study of evolutionary histories within islands (i.e., postsettlement) is shedding light on a plethora of previously unappreciated evolutionary processes contributing to the diversity of the island biota above and below the species level (Bisconti, Canestrelli, & Nascetti, ; Bisconti, Canestrelli, & Nascetti, ; Bisconti, Canestrelli, Salvi, et al., ; Bisconti et al., ; Falchi et al., ; Gentile, Campanaro, Carosi, Sbordoni, & Argano, ; Ketmaier, Manganelli, Tiedemann, & Giusti, ; Salvi, Capula, Bombi, & Bologna, ; Salvi, Harris, Bombi, Carretero, & Bologna, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryptic diversity and multiple origins of the widespread mayfly species groupBaetis rhodani(Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) on northwestern Mediterranean islands

Bisconti

Canestrelli

Tenchini

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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How the often highly endemic biodiversity of islands originated has been debated for decades, and it remains a fervid research ground. Here, using mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequence analyses, we investigate the diversity, phylogenetic relationships, and evolutionary history of the mayfly Baetis gr. rhodani on the three largest northwestern Mediterranean islands (Sardinia, Corsica, Elba). We identify three distinct, largely co‐distributed, and deeply differentiated lineages, with divergences tentatively dated back to the Eocene–Oligocene transition. Bayesian population structure analyses reveal a lack of gene exchange between them, even at sites where they are syntopic, indicating that these lineages belong to three putative species. Their phylogenetic relationships with continental relatives, together with the dating estimates, support a role for three processes contributing to this diversity: (1) vicariance, primed by microplate disjunction and oceanic transgression; (2) dispersal from the continent; and (3) speciation within the island group. Thus, our results do not point toward a prevailing role for any of the previously invoked processes. Rather, they suggest that a variety of processes equally contributed to shape the diverse and endemic biota of this group of islands.

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Twenty Years of Molecular Biogeography in the West Mediterranean Islands of Corsica and Sardinia: Lessons Learnt and Future Prospects

Cited by 23 publications

References 56 publications

Unearthing the historical biogeography of Mediterranean earthworms (Annelida: Hormogastridae)

Unearthing the historical biogeography of Mediterranean earthworms (Annelida: Hormogastridae)

The role of island physiography in maintaining genetic diversity in the endemic Tyrrhenian wall lizard (Podarcis tiliguerta)

Cryptic diversity and multiple origins of the widespread mayfly species groupBaetis rhodani(Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) on northwestern Mediterranean islands

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