Evolutionary genetics and systematics of the garden dormouse, Eliomys Wagner, 1840. 2‐allozyme diversity and differentiation of chromosomal races

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Abstract
Genetic differentiation and divergence were analyzed among the circum‐Mediterranean chromosomal forms of the genus Eliomys. Twelve populations from Spain, Italy, Austria, Israel, and Morocco with five different karyotypes (2n = 46, 48, 50, 52, and 54) were investigated by electrophoretic analysis at 41 gene loci. The observed values of genetic variation were within the range generally reported for other rodents; the overall mean heterozygosity for all the populations sampled was 0.06, ranging from 0.01 to 0.12. The mean value of genetic distance between European and Middle East‐North African populations was D=0.248, indicating the presence of two distinct evolutionary lines in the genus Eliomys. Genetic distance between Moroccan (2n = 46) and Israeli (2n = 48) populations was D = 0.136. Values of genetic distance among the European populations were lower and ranged from 0.009 to 0.132, indicating a much more recent origin for the four chromosomal forms (2n = 48, 50, 52, and 54). The taxonomic status and the phylogenetic relationships among chromosomal forms of genus Eliomys are discussed.

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