Out of Africa: demographic and colonization history of the Algerian mouse (Mus spretus Lataste)

Abstract

North Africa is now recognized as a major area for the emergence and dispersal of anatomically modern humans from at least 315 kya. The Mediterranean Basin is thus particularly suited to study the role of climate versus human-mediated changes on the evolutionary history of species. The Algerian mouse (Mus spretus Lataste) is an endemic species from this basin, with its distribution restricted to North Africa (from Libya to Morocco), Iberian Peninsula and South of France. A rich paleontological record of M. spretus exists in North Africa, suggesting hypotheses concerning colonization pathways, and the demographic and morphologic history of this species. Here we combined genetic (3 mitochondrial DNA loci and 18 microsatellites) and climatic niche modeling data to infer the evolutionary history of the Algerian mouse. We collected 646 new individuals in 51 localities. Our results are consistent with an anthropogenic translocation of the Algerian mouse from North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula via Neolithic navigators, probably from the Tingitane Peninsula. Once arrived in Spain, suitable climatic conditions would then have favored the dispersion of the Algerian mice to France. The morphological differentiation observed between Spanish, French and North African populations could be explained by a founder effect and possibly local adaptation. This article helps to better understand the role of climate versus human-mediated changes on the evolutionary history of mammal species in the Mediterranean Basin.

How Can Phenotypic Evolution be Characterized Over Time and Through Environmental Changes?

“…This result is consistent with the continuous presence of this species over the EH2 sequence, with no significant changes in terms of abundance over time (Stoetzel et al 2011) and a stability in morphology and size of molars from the Late Pleistocene to the Middle Holocene (Stoetzel et al 2013). This result may be related to a strong adaptability of this generalist species to environmental changes and/or a continuous presence of suitable habitats for this species in the Rabat-Temara region through the Late Quaternary (Lalis et al 2019). Geometric morphometric analysis of Meriones molars has shown that during the Late Pleistocene, both M. shawii and M. grandis were present in western Morocco (Stoetzel et al 2017).…”

Bidirectional Introgression between Mus musculus domesticus and Mus spretus

“…The timing of the first contact of M. spretus and M. m. domesticus is not precisely known. Mus spretus likely colonized Europe first from Northern Africa via the Gibraltar strait sometime during the last 10,000 years ( Lalis et al 2019 ). Cucchi et al (2020) estimate that M. m. domesticus expanded their range westward to Europe from an ancestral population in the Iranian Plateau after the Bronze Age (∼4,000 years ago).…”

Assessing the Effects of Landscape Change on the Occupancy Dynamics of the Greater White-Toothed Shrew Crocidura russula

“…Occupancy models predicted overall stability of the population during the studied period (except in pinewoods), which roughly coincided with the population size stability showed under a typical climate change scenario (e.g., increasing temperature and decreasing rainfall, [ 14 ]). These results suggested some resilience to climate change that was in contradiction to expectations for a small endothermic species with African origin [ 46 ]: if white-toothed shrews were constrained by cold temperatures, it would be expected of climate warming to produce positive effects on their populations. However, positive effects of climate change were neutralized by the more relevant and negative effects of landscape change.…”