Hybridization patterns between two marine snails, Littorina fabalis and L. obtusata.

ABSTRACT: Characterizing the patterns of hybridization between closely related species is crucial to understand the role of gene flow in speciation. In particular, systems comprising multiple contacts between sister species offer an outstanding opportunity to investigate how reproductive isolation varies with environmental conditions, demography and geographic contexts of divergence. The flat periwinkles, Littorina obtusata and L. fabalis (Gastropoda), are two intertidal sister species with marked ecological differences compatible with late stages of speciation. Although hybridization between the two was previously suggested, its extent across the Atlantic shores of Europe remained largely unknown. Here, we combined genetic (microsatellites and mtDNA) and morphological data (shell and

SUBMITTER: Costa D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7029087 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature