Deep genetic structure at a small spatial scale in the endangered land snail Xerocrassa montserratensis.

ABSTRACT: Species with small geographic ranges do not tend to have a high genetic structure, but some land snail species seem to be an exception. Xerocrassa montserratensis, an endangered land snail endemic to Catalonia (northeastern Iberian Peninsula), is an excellent model to study the processes affecting the phylogeography of specialized species of conservation concern. This species is restricted to xerophilous stony slopes and occurs within a small and fragmented area of ca. 500 km². We sequenced the COI barcode region of 152 individuals from eight sites covering the entire range of the species. We found four genetic groups mostly coincident with their geographic distribution: a central ancestral group containing shared haplotypes among five localities and three groups restricted to a

SUBMITTER: Catala C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8065133 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature