Comparative phylogeography of amphibians and reptiles in Algeria suggests common causes for the east-west phylogeographic breaks in the Maghreb.

ABSTRACT: A series of phylogeographic studies in the Maghreb identified a repeated pattern of deep genetic divergence between an eastern (Tunisia) and western (Morocco) lineage for several taxa but lack of sampling in Algeria made it difficult to know if the range limits between the eastern and western lineages were shared among taxa or not. To address this question, we designed a comparative phylogeographic study using 8 reptile and 3 amphibian species with wide distribution in the Maghreb as models. We selected species where previous studies had identified an East-West phylogeographic divide and collected sampled in Algeria to 1) examine whether the simple East-West divergence pattern still holds after filling the sampling gap in Algeria or if more complex diversity patterns emerge; 2) if the E-W

SUBMITTER: Beddek M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6114291 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature