Deeply divergent sympatric mitochondrial lineages of the earthworm Lumbricus rubellus are not reproductively isolated.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The accurate delimitation of species is essential to numerous areas of biological research. An unbiased assessment of the diversity, including the cryptic diversity, is of particular importance for the below ground fauna, a major component of global biodiversity. On the British Isles, the epigeic earthworm Lumbricus rubellus, which is a sentinel species in soil ecotoxicology, consists of two cryptic taxa that are differentiated in both the nuclear and the mitochondrial (mtDNA) genomes. Recently, several deeply divergent mtDNA lineages were detected in mainland Europe, but whether these earthworms also constitute cryptic species remains unclear. This information is important from an evolutionary perspective, but it is also essential for the interpretation and the design o

SUBMITTER: Giska I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4595309 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature