Phylogeographic analysis reveals a deep lineage split within North Atlantic Littorina saxatilis.

ABSTRACT: Phylogeographic studies provide critical insight into the evolutionary histories of model organisms; yet, to date, range-wide data are lacking for the rough periwinkle Littorina saxatilis, a classic example of marine sympatric speciation. Here, we use mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data to demonstrate that L. saxatilis is not monophyletic for this marker, but is composed of two distinct mtDNA lineages (I and II) that are shared with sister species Littorina arcana and Littorina compressa. Bayesian coalescent dating and phylogeographic patterns indicate that both L. saxatilis lineages originated in the eastern North Atlantic, around the British Isles, at approximately 0.64 Ma. Both lineages are now distributed broadly across the eastern, central and western North Atlantic, and show stro

SUBMITTER: Doellman MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3169032 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature