Genetic data reveal that water frogs of Cyprus (genus Pelophylax) are an endemic species of Messinian origin

2012-10-01
Ploetner, Joerg
Baier, Felix
Akın, Cıgdem
Mazepa, Glib
Schreiber, Robert
Beerli, Peter
Lıtvınchuk, Spartak N.
Bilgin, Cemal Can
Borkin, Leo
Uzzell, Thomas
Water frogs inhabiting Cyprus represent a distinct evolutionary species of Messinian origin that is formally described in this paper. The systematic status of Cypriot frogs is evidenced by specific characters in their mitochondrial (mt) and nuclear (nu) DNA sequences, and the fact that they form a well supported monophyletic clade in both mtDNA and nuDNA phylogenies. While genetic data revealed clear and reproducible differences between this new taxon and all other western Palearctic water frog species including Pelophylax bedriagae in the Levant and two Anatolian water frogs lineages (P. cf. bedriagae -1 and P. cf. bedriagae -2), there is no diagnostic morphological or morphometric character that allows a clear discrimination between Cyprus frogs and frogs from the adjacent mainland. If several morphometric indices are combined as predictor variables in a discriminant analysis, however, both females and males of Cypriot water frogs are correctly distinguished from the other eastern Mediterranean lineages. While phylogenies based on concatenated sequences of two mitochondrial genes (ND2 + ND3) suggest a sister group relationship of Cypriot and Anatolian water frog lineages, our nuclear data hypothesize a sister group relationship between Cypriot frogs (sp. n.) and Crete frogs (P. cretensis), thus speaking for the same isolation time of both island populations ((c) 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
ZOOSYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION

Suggestions

Genetic divergence and evolution of reproductive isolation in eastern mediterranean water frogs
Plötner, Jörg; Uzzel, Thomas; Beerli, Peter; Akın Pekşen, Çiğdem; Bilgin, Cemal Can; Haefeli, Cornelia; Ohst, Torsten; Köhler, Frank; Schreiber, Robert; Guex, Gaston; Litvinchuk, Sn; Westeway, Rob; Reyer, Heinzulrich; Hotz, Hansjürg (Springer, 2010-01-01)
Water frogs [genus Pelophylax (Rana)] that occur around the eastern Mediterranean Sea provide an opportunity to study early stages of speciation. The geography of the eastern Mediterranean region has changed dramatically since the Middle Miocene as a result of motions of adjoining lithospheric plates and regional-scale vertical crustal motions (uplift and subsidence). For several hundred thousand years between 6 and 5 million years ago (Mya), the Mediterranean basin was isolated from the Atlantic Ocean, and...
Molecular evolution and phylogeography of the eastern mediterranean water frog (pelophylax) complex
Akın Pekşen, Çiğdem; Bilgin, Cemal Can; Plötner, Jörg; Department of Biology (2015)
Water frogs (genus Pelophylax) in the eastern Mediterranean region represent a genetically and phylogenetically diverse group. Their dependence on freshwater habitats makes them highly sensitive to geological and climatic changes. Thus they are an ideal group to study the effect of past geological processes on molecular evolution of protein-coding and non-coding genes on the genome and on patterns of phylogeography in the eastern Mediterranean region. In the first study, the complete sequence of water frog ...
Genetic diversity pattern in Populus Nigra populations of two major river systems in Turkey
Çiftçi, Asiy; Kaya, Zeki; Department of Biology (2019)
European black poplar (Populus nigra L.) is an important tree species in terms of social, economic and ecological interest in Turkey. Although, poplar plantations in large areas meet the needs of the economy, the natural genetic resources of the species have been highly degraded due to anthropogenic effects and natural biological events. To assess genetic diversity structure of natural populations, 124 naturally distributed European black poplar trees from two major rivers (Kızılırmak and Göksu) in Turkey w...
Genetic relationships among perennial and annual Cicer species growing in Turkey as revealed by allozymes
Sudupak, MA; Kence, Aykut (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2004-05-01)
Allozyme polymorphisms were used to assess genetic variation and relationships among ten Cicer species ( annuals and perennials) growing in Turkey. Using seven enzyme systems, 12 putative scorable loci were detected and surveyed for polymorphism in an accession collection including wild and cultivated forms. Variation was generally low within accessions and species, but common between species. Cluster analysis based on the pairwise genetic distance coefficients (Nei 1978) among accessions and species using ...
Genetic and morphologic diversity of Pseudophoxinus (Cyprinidae): implication for conservation in Anatolia
TELLİ, MURAT; Aykut, Kence (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2015-01-01)
Pseudophoxinus a freshwater fish genus shows remarkable diversification with high number of endemic species in Anatolia. Most of the species of the genus are categorized as endangered for conservation in IUCN Red List due to water abstraction and habitat destruction. The aim of the study is to investigate genetic and morphological structure of Pseudophoxinus populations using allozyme, microsatellite markers and geometric morphometrics (eight landmarks). Sample collection was performed from eight localities...
Citation Formats
J. Ploetner et al., “Genetic data reveal that water frogs of Cyprus (genus Pelophylax) are an endemic species of Messinian origin,” ZOOSYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION, pp. 261–283, 2012, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/32850.