Evolutionary divergence of the smooth snake (Serpentes, Colubridae): The role of the Balkans and Anatolia

Abstract

The smooth snake Coronella austriaca (Laurenti, 1768) is distributed across the western Palearctic throughout north-central, southern Europe and western Asia.So far, only few phylogenetic studies, based on mitochondrial DNA, have been carried out on this species focusing mainly on the Iberian Peninsula and northern Europe, leaving unstudied some of important areas of its distribution. This study aims to cover this gap and to explore the phylogenetic relationships between the populations of in the Eastern Mediterranean and to detect possible historical refugia. With this objective, total genomic DNA was extracted from samples originated from the Balkans, Anatolia and a large part of Europe. Two mitochondrial (cyt b, 16S) and six nuclear (BDNF, NKTR, RAG1, RAG2, MC1R and PRLR) markers were combined for phylogenetic and chronophylogenetic analyses.The different analyses confirmed previous phylogeographic hypothesis showing the presence of several well-supported clades distributed in Anatolia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the Balkans and the Iberian Peninsula and cryptic diversity within Anatolia and the Balkans. Moreover, dating analysis

The Silk roads: phylogeography of Central Asian dice snakes (Serpentes: Natricidae) shaped by rivers in deserts and mountain valleys

“…in Iran. This confirms the relevance of that area for phylogeographic studies ( Tuniyev 1995 ; Ahmadzadeh et al 2013 ; Zinenko et al 2015 ; Jablonski et al 2019 , 2021 ; Stratakis et al 2022 ). Possible contact zones between other clades of N .…”

Anatolia: A Hotspot of Avian Genetic Diversity in the Western Palaearctic

“…[57]), the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) [58] and the chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar) [15]. The high haplotype diversity and, often, the occurrence of multiple haplogroups in Anatolia, which was found in a number of other taxonomic groups such as mammals [59], reptiles [60], amphibians [61] and insects [62] has been imputed to its geographic positions favouring Pleistocene bidirectional faunal exchanges between Europe and the Near East [63], as well as the occurrence of multiple refugia within Anatolia underlying cryptic diversity [17,64].…”

An updated checklist of the Serbian batracho-and herpetofauna

“…Balkan Peninsula was one of the important glacial refugia for European biodiversity and one of the sources for the recolonization of the continent after Pleistocene glaciations (Guillaume et al 1997, Džukić & Kalezić 2004, Böhme et al 2007. Accordingly, Serbian batracho-and herpetofauna is characterized by: (1) relatively high taxonomical, morphological and genetic diversity (Crnobrnja-Isailović 2007, Ursenbacher et al 2008, Gvoždík et al 2010, Vukov et al 2013, Wielstra et al 2013b, Čubrić et al 2019, Stratakis et al 2022, (2) ancestral phylogeographic clades, relict populations and microrefugia (Džukić & Pasuljević 1979, Džukić & Purger 1988, Sotiropoulos et al 2007, Arntzen et al 2007, Hofman et al 2007, Ljubisavljević et al 2010), (3) peripheral populations and marginal species' ranges (Džukić & Kalezić 2004, Vukov et al 2013) and (4) hybridization and hybrid zones (Gvoždík et al 2010, Stöck et al 2012, Arntzen et al 2014, Dufresnes et al 2015, Jablonski et al 2016, Urošević et al 2020.…”