Late‐ and Post‐Glacial history of the Mustelidae in Europe

Abstract

1. Analyses of the subfossil records of mustelid species in Europe indicate specific differences in the pattern of temporal and spatial recolonization of central Europe after the maximum glaciation of the last glacial period. 2. For Meles meles, Martes martes and (with some reservations) Mustela putorius it can be seen that the populations were separated in several glacial refugia during the maximum glaciation of the Weichselian. In contrast, the European population of Lutra lutra was restricted to a single glacial refuge, which had not been clearly localized until now. 3. Besides the known glacial refugia of the Iberian Peninsula, Italian Peninsula and the Balkans, there is evidence of possible additional glacial refugia for mustelids near the Carpathians, in western Moldova and in the northern Pontic region. 4. Gulo gulo , Mustela nivalis , and Mustela erminea show adaptations for survival in Pleistocene conditions, but they were historically also distributed in the warmer areas of southern Europe. 5. Among the more thermophilic mustelid species, Mustela putorius is likely to have been the earliest immigrant following the maximum glaciation. Meles meles has been recorded in comparably early times and also seems to be relatively tolerant of climatic extremes. It is clear that Martes martes had already arrived in central Europe during the Allerød, in connection with the recolonization by birch and pine woods. Lutra lutra , by contrast, seems to have been an absolute Holocene immigrant.

Phylogeography of the weasel (Mustela nivalis) in the western-Palaearctic region: combined effects of glacial events and human movements

“…The interpretation of northern-European refugium would also be consistent with the ecology of weasels, which are presently found from the southern and northern extremes of Europe and in mountains up to 3000 m. These characteristics suggest that, as cold-tolerant animals, weasels would have been able to survive at different latitudes (to the boundary of the ice sheet) during successive glaciations. The presence of weasel subfossils recorded during the pleniglacial age (15-75 kyr) of central Europe (Germany, Poland;Sommer and Benecke, 2004) is also consistent with this hypothesis. Of course, more samples from northern countries (Sweden, Norway) to the Extreme Orient would be needed to support this scenario.…”

Revisiting the phylogeography and demography of European badgers (Meles meles) based on broad sampling, multiple markers and simulations

“…Fossil evidence also shows that badgers were present in the Carpathians and the Balkans during the LGM (Pazonyi, 2004;Sommer and Benecke, 2004). Southeastern and eastern Europe are also the only regions where all four main 'Eastern' haplotypes (meles1-3 and mm20) are found, suggesting that expansion started outwards from here.…”

“…The presence of many unique haplotypes in Iberia, coupled with extensive fossil data from the region (Sommer and Benecke, 2004), clearly points to the peninsula having been a glacial refugium for badgers. Fossil evidence also shows that badgers were present in the Carpathians and the Balkans during the LGM (Pazonyi, 2004;Sommer and Benecke, 2004).…”

“…After preliminary analyses, effective population sizes were allowed to vary between 10 and 10 000 for Scandinavia and Iberia, as well as between 10 and 20 000 for the Balkans. In scenario 1, the Scandinavian lineage split from the Iberian lineage at t1 (13 000 years to 1 year before present (BP)) to coincide with the emergence of various landbridges connecting mainland Europe to Scandinavia (Björck, 1995), the first appearance of badger fossils in Scandinavia (Sommer and Benecke, 2004) and to allow this event to have occurred any time since then (Supplementary Figure S1). In scenario 2, the Scandinavian lineage split from the Balkan lineage at t1.…”

“…Although subfossil evidence suggests that the badger was present in Iberia, Italy, the Carpathians and the Balkans during the LGM (Pazonyi, 2004;Sommer and Benecke, 2004), Marmi et al (2006) inferred the presence of only one European mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) clade. However, despite the absence of samples from southeastern Europe, the haplotype network led these authors to suggest recolonisation of the continent from multiple refugia.…”