Population Structure and Evolution after Speciation of the Hokkaido Salamander (Hynobius retardatus).

ABSTRACT: The Hokkaido salamander (Hynobius retardatus) is endemic to Hokkaido Island, Japan, and shows intriguing flexible phenotypic plasticity and regional morphological diversity. However, to date, allozymes and partial mitochondria DNA sequences have provided only an outline of its demographic histories and the pattern of its genetic diversification. To understand the finer details of the population structure of this species and its evolution since speciation, we genotyped five regional populations by using 12 recently developed microsatellite polymorphic markers. We found a clear population structure with low gene flow among the five populations, but a close genetic relationship between the Teshio and Kitami populations. Our demographic analysis suggested that Teshio and Erimo had the largest

SUBMITTER: Matsunami M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4892524 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature