Complex hybridization patterns in European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) in the Pyrenean Region

Pöschel, J. ; Heltai, B. ; Graciá, E. ; Quintana, M.F. ; Velo-Antón, G. ; Arribas, O. ; Valdeón, A. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Wink, M. ; Fritz, U. ; Vamberger, M.

Resumen: Hybrid zones are natural laboratories allowing insights in genetic processes like lineage diversification, speciation and introgression. Using large sampling, 15 microsatellite loci and a mitochondrial marker, we examined the Pyrenean contact zone of three pond turtle taxa (Emys orbicularis orbicularis, E. o. galloitalica, E. o. occidentalis). The Pyrenees are a biogeographically important region separating many lineages endemic to the Iberian Peninsula from their Western European counterparts. We discovered limited admixture, reflecting a complex biogeographic scenario. Simulations using Approximate Bayesian Computing supported that E. o. orbicularis invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the Holocene, circumventing the Pyrenees along the Mediterranean coast, and hybridized in the northern peninsula with the local coastal subspecies galloitalica, and to a lesser extent, with occidentalis. While E. o. occidentalis, and in particular E. o. orbicularis, expanded their ranges considerably during Holocene warming, E. o. galloitalica remained largely confined to its former Iberian refuge. Admixture among the three taxa is surprisingly low, and a future taxonomic investigation that includes the unstudied subspecies of E. orbicularis from North Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia has to determine whether their current status properly reflects their evolutionary divergence or whether certain taxa should be regarded as full species.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-34178-0

Año: 2018

Publicado en: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS 8, 1 (2018), 15925 [13 pp]
ISSN: 2045-2322

Factor impacto JCR: 4.011 (2018)

Categ. JCR: MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES rank: 14 / 69 = 0.203 (2018) - Q1 - T1

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.414 - Multidisciplinary (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO-FEDER/CGL2015–64144

Tipo y forma: Artículo (Versión definitiva)

Área (Departamento): Área Geografía Física (Dpto. Geograf. Ordenac.Territ.)