J 2023

Comparative mitochondrial phylogeography of water frogs (Ranidae: Pelophylax spp.) from the southwestern Balkans

PAPEŽÍK, Petr, Peter MIKULÍČEK, Michal BENOVICS, Monika BALOGOVÁ, Lukáš CHOLEVA et. al.

Basic information

Original name

Comparative mitochondrial phylogeography of water frogs (Ranidae: Pelophylax spp.) from the southwestern Balkans

Authors

PAPEŽÍK, Petr, Peter MIKULÍČEK, Michal BENOVICS (703 Slovakia, belonging to the institution), Monika BALOGOVÁ, Lukáš CHOLEVA, Marie DOLEŽÁLKOVÁ-KAŠTÁNKOVÁ, Petros LYMBERAKIS, Edvárd MIZSEI, Simona PAPEŽÍKOVÁ, Nikos POULAKAKIS, Enerit SACDANAKU, Márton SZABOLCS, Radek ŠANDA, Marcel UHRIN, Jasna VUKIĆ and Daniel JABLONSKI (guarantor)

Edition

Vertebrate Zoology, Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, 2023, 1864-5755

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

10613 Zoology

Country of publisher

Germany

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

Impact factor

Impact factor: 2.100 in 2022

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14310/23:00132188

Organization unit

Faculty of Science

UT WoS

001044395100002

Keywords in English

Biogeography; conservation; Eastern Mediterranean; endemism; evolution; Rana; taxonomy

Tags

Tags

International impact, Reviewed
Změněno: 7/12/2023 09:19, Mgr. Marie Šípková, DiS.

Abstract

V originále

The genus Pelophylax (water frogs) includes relatively common, widely distributed, and even invasive species, but also endemic taxa with small ranges and limited knowledge concerning their ecology and evolution. Among poorly studied species belong endemics of the southwestern Balkans, namely Pelophylax shqipericus, P. epeiroticus and P. kurtmuelleri. In this study, we focused on the genetic variability of these species aiming to reveal their phylogeographic patterns and Quaternary history. We used 1,088 published and newly obtained sequences of the mitochondrial ND2 gene and a variety of analyses, including molecular phylogenetics and dating, historical demography, and species distribution modeling (SDM). We revelated the existence of two mitochondrial lineages within P. epeiroticus and P. shqipericus that diverged at similar to 0.9 Mya and similar to 0.8 Mya, respectively. Contrarily, no deeply diverged lineages were found in P. kurtmuelleri. Pelophylax kurtmuelleri also shows a close phylogenetic relationship with widely distributed P. ridibundus, suggesting that both represent one evolutionary clade called here P. ridibundus/kurtmuelleri. The estimated split between both lineages in the clade P. ridibundus/kurtmuelleri date back to similar to 0.6 Mya. The divergence between the ridibundus and kurtmuelleri lineages on the ND2 gene is thus lower than the divergence between the two lineages found in P. epeiroticus and P. shqipericus. According to haplotype networks, demographic analyses, and SDM, endemic water frogs survived the last glacial maximum (LGM) in Balkan microrefugia, and their distribution has not changed significantly or even retracted since the LGM. Haplotypes of the kurtmuelleri lineage were also found in northern parts of Europe, where haplotype diversity is however much lower than in the Balkans, suggesting the possible hypothesis of their postglacial expansion to the north.