Comparative phylogeography reveals distinct colonization patterns of Cretan snakes. (15th December 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kyriazi, Panagiota; Kornilios, Panagiotis; Nagy, Zoltán Tamás; Poulakakis, Nikos; Kumlutaş, Yusuf; Ilgaz, Çetin; Avcı, Aziz; Göçmen, Bayram; Lymberakis, Petros; Carine, Mark
• Is Part Of: Journal of biogeography. Volume 40:Number 6(2013:Jun.)
• Page Start: 1143
• Page End: 1155
• Publication Date: 2012-12-15
• Subjects: Biogeography -- Periodicals; 578.09
• DOI: 10.1111/jbi.12057
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-0270

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jbi12057-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="jbi12057-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Aim</title> <p>We assessed genetic relationships among populations for each of the four snake species found on Crete (<italic>Zamenis situla</italic>, <italic> Hierophis gemonensis</italic>, <italic> Telescopus fallax</italic> and <italic>Natrix tessellata</italic>), including conspecific populations from the Aegean area. Our aim was to reconstruct their phylogeographical histories, especially regarding their occurrence on Crete.</p> </sec> <sec id="jbi12057-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Location</title> <p>Crete, Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean.</p> </sec> <sec id="jbi12057-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>Genetic diversity and relationships were based on sequences of the mitochondrial marker cytochrome <italic>b</italic>, applying phylogenetic analyses (maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference and neighbour‐joining), a median‐joining network analysis and a molecular dating analysis.</p> </sec> <sec id="jbi12057-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>The <italic>Z. situla</italic> phylogeny includes a clade with specimens from Crete, the Peloponnese and Thera, while specimens from Turkey, northern Greece and the eastern Aegean islands form a separate clade. The <italic>H. gemonensis</italic> tree also presents two clades: one comprising specimens from Crete and Kythera, and another representing the continental part of the species' distribution. For <italic>N. tessellata</italic>, Cretan populations are found as the sister clade to populations from Europe and western Turkey. A more complex genetic structure is found in <italic>T. fallax</italic>: specimens from Crete, Thera and Antikythera form a clade, which itself forms part of a 'western' clade, and an 'eastern' clade includes specimens from Turkey, the eastern Aegean islands and Cyprus. The splits resulting in the Cretan clades for <italic>T. fallax</italic> and <italic>N. tessellata</italic> occurred at the end of the Miocene and the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary, respectively. The Cretan lineages of <italic>H. gemonensis</italic> and <italic>Z. situla</italic> diversified during the Pleistocene.</p> </sec> <sec id="jbi12057-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Main conclusions</title> <p> <italic>Zamenis situla</italic> and <italic>H. gemonensis</italic> exhibit a phylogeographical pattern that involves a transmarine dispersal from southern continental Greece to Crete (possibly by humans in the case of <italic>Z. situla</italic>). The occurrence of <italic>T</italic>.<italic> fallax</italic> on Crete is explained by a natural dispersal from the west and isolation by vicariance. Although these two patterns have also been inferred for other studied herptiles of Crete, the pattern in <italic>N. tessellata</italic> is unique and involves a transmarine dispersal from south‐western Turkey to Crete.</p> </sec> </abstract>