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Phylogeography of the Alpine shrew, Sorex alpinus (Soricidae, Mammalia)
Starcová, Magda ; Horáček, Ivan (referee)
The Alpine shrew (Sorex alpinus Schinz, 1837) is a small member of family Soricidae, which is found in mountain forests of central and south Europe. Its patchy range includes the Alps, the NW Balkans, the Carpathians, and some isolated mountain areas in Germany, Czech Republic and Poland. The disjunct range of Alpine shrew presumably results from range dynamics of the species connected with Pleistocene climate oscillation. The aim of this study was to investigate phylogeographical structure of the Alpine shrew in the central and SE European mountain systems. To examine genetic structure of Alpine shrew populations the hypervariable domain of the mitochondrial control region was used. We processed 51 samples from 18 localities, covering the majority of the distributional area of the species. Final sequence dataset was analyzed using population and landscape genetic approaches. Results revealed shallow mitochondrial genealogy with differentiation among haplogroups. This pattern, together with demographic analyses suggest population expansion, corroborated with the hypothesis that during glacial periods the Alpine shrew expanded. End of the last ice period was followed by fragmentation of the species range and its retreat to higher elevations and formation of relict populations. Key words: shrews,...
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