The males of more than 80% of the Lycaenidae species belonging to the tribe Polyommatini exhibit structural coloration on their dorsal wing surfaces. These colors have a role in reinforcement in ...prezygotic reproductive isolation. The species-specific colors are produced by the cellular self-assembly of chitin/air nanocomposites. The spectral position of the reflectance maximum of such photonic nanoarchitectures depends on the nanoscale geometric dimensions of the elements building up the nanostructure. Previous work showed that the coloration of male Polyommatus icarus butterflies in the Western and Eastern Palearctic exhibits a characteristic spectral difference (20 nm). We investigated the coloration and the de novo developed DNA microsatellites of 80 P. icarus specimens from Europe from four sampling locations, spanning a distance of 1621 km. Remarkably good concordance was found between the spectral properties of the blue sexual signaling color (coincident within 5 nm) and the population genetic structure as revealed by 10 microsatellites for the P. icarus species.
The Eurasian Steppe belt is one of the largest biomes in the Northern Hemisphere. We provide here a range-wide phylogeography of the flightless steppe beetle Lethrus apterus that inhabits the western ...part of the Steppe belt through the study of population-level variance of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I sequences and nuclear microsatellites. We detected a concordant geographic structure of genetic data with a significant isolation-by-distance pattern. We found more genetic variation in the western part of the area and identified Northern Bulgaria and the Pannonian Basin as possible refugia. Genetic clusters were separated by main rivers in the eastern part of the area. This implies west-to-east colonisation and argues for an evolutionarily recent arrival of this species to its current main distribution area, the Pontic Steppes. This contradicts the classical biogeographical wisdom that assumed an east-to-west colonisation pattern.
Temporal activity differences facilitate species’ coexistence by reducing interspecific competition. Such patterns can be studied via diel activity analysis, but obtaining data in cryptic mammals is ...difficult. We investigated the annual and diel activity pattern of such a small mammal, the endangered Hungarian birch mouse (
Sicista trizona trizona
), in its only known habitat. We employ trail cameras for the first time to reveal the diel and annual activity of a sminthid species. Data acquisition included the spring and summer seasons between 2019 and 2022 and was extended to detect the activity overlaps with other common coexisting rodents and shrews. The diel activity results rely on 581 detections of
S. trizona
over 5670 trap-nights of camera trap deployment characterising also activity pattern of the small mammal community in this Central European grassland ecosystem.
S. trizona
was not recorded during the day but was active at dawn and night, and in comparison with other coexisting species, its activity level was high. The presumed cold sensitivity was not confirmed as we detected activity at −6 °C. Diel activity peaked in early May in the mating season. Although the diel activity pattern of co-occurring small mammal species was also nocturnal, activity overlaps were relatively high suggesting that temporal niche partitioning is limited within the habitat. Our work provides the first insight into temporal overlaps within a small mammal community in a natural European grassland, moreover, also the first documented research on the activity pattern of a sminthid in its natural habitat.
European mustelids include the European polecat,
Mustela putorius
, and the steppe polecat,
M. eversmanii
. Both occur sympatrically in the Pannonian Basin, where
M. eversmanii hungarica
represents ...the westernmost part of the latter species and they allegedly hybridize. We investigated the morphological relationships in sympatric and allopatric populations of these mustelids with representative sampling, taxonomic and geographic coverage. We evaluated inter- and intraspecific patterns of morphological differentiation of 20 cranial measurements and four external traits by distance-based morphometric approaches and multivariate analyses. Our results revealed a considerable heterogeneity in cranial morphology. The two species appeared to be clearly differentiated although sympatric populations were closer to each other and had a slight overlap in the morphometric space. Within
M. eversmanii
, the subspecies and the nominal taxon only partially overlapped, and
M. eversmanii eversmanii
was more distant from
M. putorius
than subspecies
hungarica
. Although morphometric analyses revealed several intermediate individuals in size in sympatric
M. eversmanii
and
M. putorius
populations, only a small fraction of such specimens showed conflict in discrete morphological characters with the diagnostic discriminant function. We interpret these results as an indication of ongoing hybridisation between sympatric populations, but the low number of hybrids identified suggests limited genetic exchange between the species.
Birch mice (genus
Sicista
) represent an early diverging lineage of dipodid rodents with a wide geographic distribution and a cryptic lifestyle that makes the genus difficult to study. As a result, ...reconstructing the evolutionary phylogeny of the group remains incomplete. Here, we report the molecular phylogeny of the genus based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers sampled from 12 of the 14 known living species. Moreover, we discuss morphological character (i.e., fur coloration and glans penis morphology) evolution in the genus. We have found a strong agreement between phylogenetic relationships among species and morphological peculiarities, both supporting a mountainous origin of
Sicista
, and a recent spread towards lowlands of some lineages. Glans penis structure turned out to be rather simple in the early lineages, but became more complex in phylogenetically later diverging taxa. The presence of dorsal stripes is associated with the colonization of lowland habitats. In addition, we describe here a species new to science from the Tien Shan Mountains, and provide evidence of uncovered cryptic diversity from the region. Additionally, we revise the identification of a specimen collected from China, thus documenting the presence of
Sicista pseudonapaea
, previously unreported from that country.
The systematics of the genus Sicista is unclear, mostly because of the high level of chromosomal variability within the genus. One of the most challenging groups for systematists is the steppic ...Sicista subtilis species group that extends from central Europe to Lake Baikal. We present a systematic review of these European southern birch mice using an integrative taxonomic approach. In this review, we evaluate the degree of genetic and morphological differentiation of the Sicista subtilis complex by analysing 12 European populations, and propose a new taxonomic treatment for the subtilis group based on an integrative approach combining phylogenetic and morphometric analyses with a review on previously published cytogenetic and morphological data. The phylogenetic relationship was reconstructed using sequences of the whole mitochondrial cytochrome b (CytB) and the nucleus‐encoded interphotoreceptor binding protein (IRBP) under the maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood criteria. Based on whole CytB sequences, genetic distances were reconstructed and visualised among the taxa. These data were supplemented with multivariate analysis of the morphology of the baculum and of the penile spike of museum specimens. Based on the genetic and the morphological data set, we suggest that the subspecies trizona and nordmanni should be raised to the species rank. We suggest Sicista trizona (Frivaldszky, 1865) and Sicista nordmanni (Keyserling and Blasius, 1840) as names for these species, respectively. The species status of Sicista severtzovi is not supported by our results, so we recommend reclassifying it as a subspecies of Sicista subtilis. Finally, the large genetic distance between the Hungarian and Romanian populations of Sicista trizona led us to describe the Romanian population as a new subspecies.
Although hybridization has long been recognized as a major force driving speciation in land plants, it has not yet been evidenced in Astragalus, the largest angiosperm genus. Here, we reveal the ...possible contribution of hybridization to speciation in Astragalus by employing cloning of the nrDNA ITS region and sampling three plastid regions (ycf1, ndhF–rpl32, and rpl32–trnL) in taxa belonging to sect. Dissitiflori. Phylogenetic network and tree analyses uncovered various levels of intra-individual and intraspecific polymorphism of ITS in most of the taxa investigated. Two distantly related ribotype groups were found to be shared by the closely related polyploids Astragalus pallescens M.Bieb., Astragalus peterfii Jáv., and Astragalus pseudoglaucus Klokov suggesting ancient hybridization followed by incomplete lineage sorting (i.e., shared ancestral polymorphism) in nrDNA ITS. Reticulation is also invoked as an underlying evolutionary process behind the statistically highly supported incongruent placement of A. pseudoglaucus and Astragalus vesicarius subsp. pastellianus (Pollini) Arcang. in nuclear versus plastid phylogenies. The phylogenetic results also shed light on taxonomic controversies in the section, such as the false synonimization of A. peterfii under A. vesicarius s.l. Our results provide evidence for the (at least past) existence of speciation processes driven by hybridization in Astragalus.
This study introduces a cost-effective and environmentally friendly laboratory procedure and infrastructure that can be readily applied to industrial production. We demonstrate that a custom-made ...insectarium can yield natural, finely tuned photonic nanostructure surfaces year-round using Common Blue butterfly laboratory populations. Using a single device, this process enables the production of more than 7500 wing samples annually, equivalent to up to 1 msup.2 of photonic surfaces. To ascertain the reliability of Common Blue as a source of photonic nanostructures, we compared the structural colour of the laboratory population to different natural genetic lineages. Although clear signs of genetic erosion due to inbreeding was detected through molecular genetic variability analysis, we observed minimal differences in the structural colouration showing the exceptional stability of the photonic nanostructures in the wing scales of Common Blue males. Consequently, there is a notable economic opportunity in developing technology that can be applied in industry to produce these natural materials that may be used directly in different kinds of applications requiring intricate photonic nanostructures. The colour of the butterfly wing serves as an important sexual and species-specific signal. Some species produce structural colouration by developing wing scales with photonic nanoarchitectures. These nanostructures are highly conservative, allowing only a ±10 nm peak wavelength deviation in the reflectance spectra of the blue structural colour in natural Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) populations. They are promising templates of future artificial photonic materials and can be used in potential applications, too. In this work, we present methodology and infrastructure for breeding laboratory populations of Common Blue as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly source of nanostructures. Our technology enables the production of approximately 7500 wing samples, equivalent to 0.5–1 msup.2 of photonic nanoarchitecture surface within a year in a single custom-made insectarium. To ascertain the reliability of this method, we compared reflectance properties between different populations from distant geographic locations. We also provide genetic background of these populations using microsatellite genotyping. The laboratory population showed genetic erosion, but even after four generations of inbreeding, only minimal shifts in the structural colouration were observed, indicating that wild Common Blue populations may be a reliable source of raw material for photonic surfaces.
The phylogeography of species associated with European steppes and extrazonal xeric grasslands is poorly understood. This paper summarizes the results of recent studies on the phylogeography and ...conservation genetics of animals (20 taxa of beetles, butterflies, reptiles and rodents) and flowering plants (18 taxa) of such, "steppic" habitats in Eastern Central Europe. Most species show a similar phylogeographic pattern: relatively high genetic similarity within regional groups of populations and moderate-to-high genetic distinctiveness of populations from currently isolated regions located in the studied area. This distinctiveness of populations suggests a survival here during glacial maxima, including areas north of the Bohemian Massif-Carpathians arc. Steppic species generally do not follow the paradigmatic patterns known for temperate biota (south-north “contraction–expansion”), but to some extent are similar to those of arctic-alpine taxa. There are three main groups of taxa within Eastern Central Europe that differ in their contemporary distribution pattern, which may reflect historical origin and expansion routes. Present diversity patterns of the studied steppic species suggest that they share a unique genetic signature and distinct assemblages exist in each of the now isolated areas rich in steppic habitats. At least some of these areas probably act as present “interglacial refugia” for steppic species. This study strongly supports the need to protect steppic species throughout their entire ranges in the region, as the continuous destruction of steppic habitats in some areas may lead not only to the disappearance of local populations, but also to the extinction of unique evolutionary units.
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