Phylogeography of Sardinian cave salamanders (genus Hydromantes) is mainly determined by geomorphology.

ABSTRACT: Detecting the factors that determine the interruption of gene flow between populations is key to understanding how speciation occurs. In this context, caves are an excellent system for studying processes of colonization, differentiation and speciation, since they represent discrete geographical units often with known geological histories. Here, we asked whether discontinuous calcareous areas and cave systems represent major barriers to gene flow within and among the five species of Sardinian cave salamanders (genus Hydromantes) and whether intraspecific genetic structure parallels geographic distance within and among caves. We generated mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences from 184 individuals representing 48 populations, and used a Bayesian phylogeographic approach to infer possible

SUBMITTER: Chiari Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3299655 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature