TY  - JOUR
A1  - Velo-Antón, Guillermo
A1  - Boratyński, Zbyszek
A1  - Ferreira, Clara Mendes
A1  - Lima, Vanessa O.
A1  - Alves, Paulo C.
A1  - Brito, José C.
T1  - Intraspecific genetic diversity and distribution of North African hedgehogs (Mammalia: Erinaceidae)
JF  - Biological journal of the Linnean Society : a journal of evolution
N2  - Despite growing efforts to halt biodiversity loss, knowledge of species diversity and distribution is highly geographically biased, leaving some areas unexplored. Taxa distributed in remote, desert areas, such as hedgehogs (Mammalia; Eulipotyphla) in North Africa, are good examples of current knowledge gaps in systematics and biogeography. Here we studied the geographical distribution and intraspecific genetic diversity of hedgehogs in North Africa. Specimens belonging to North African and Eurasian species were analysed with mitochondrial (control region, CR) and nuclear (recombination activating gene 1, RAG1) gene fragments. This revealed a broader geographical distribution of Atelerix algirus in south-western Libya and of Paraechinus aethiopicus along the Atlantic Sahara. High intraspecific genetic differentiation was found in A. algirus and A. albiventris at the mitochondrial level, with nuclear haplotype sharing across their ranges. These findings suggest that biogeographical patterns of hedgehogs in North Africa are more complex than previously suggested, highlighting a need for further investigation in this remote and poorly known area.
KW  - Atelerix albiventris
KW  - Atelerix algirus
KW  - conservation genetics
KW  - cryptic diversity
KW  - distribution
KW  - Paraechinus aethiopicus
KW  - Phylogeny
KW  - Sahara-Sahel
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blz030
SN  - 0024-4066
SN  - 1095-8312
VL  - 127
IS  - 1
SP  - 156
EP  - 163
PB  - Oxford University Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  -