Complex hybridization patterns in European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) in the Pyrenean Region.

ABSTRACT: Hybrid zones are natural laboratories allowing insights in genetic processes like lineage diversification, speciation and introgression. Using large sampling, 15 microsatellite loci and a mitochondrial marker, we examined the Pyrenean contact zone of three pond turtle taxa (Emys orbicularis orbicularis, E. o. galloitalica, E. o. occidentalis). The Pyrenees are a biogeographically important region separating many lineages endemic to the Iberian Peninsula from their Western European counterparts. We discovered limited admixture, reflecting a complex biogeographic scenario. Simulations using Approximate Bayesian Computing supported that E. o. orbicularis invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the Holocene, circumventing the Pyrenees along the Mediterranean coast, and hybridized in the northern peni

SUBMITTER: Poschel J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6206128 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature