Intraspecific genetic diversity and distribution of North African hedgehogs (Mammalia: Erinaceidae)
- 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 complexDespite 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.…
Author details: | Guillermo Velo-Antón, Zbyszek BoratyńskiORCiD, Clara Mendes FerreiraORCiD, Vanessa O. Lima, Paulo C. Alves, José C. BritoORCiD |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blz030 |
ISSN: | 0024-4066 |
ISSN: | 1095-8312 |
Title of parent work (English): | Biological journal of the Linnean Society : a journal of evolution |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Place of publishing: | Oxford |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2019/04/04 |
Publication year: | 2019 |
Release date: | 2021/02/15 |
Tag: | Atelerix albiventris; Atelerix algirus; Paraechinus aethiopicus; Phylogeny; Sahara-Sahel; conservation genetics; cryptic diversity; distribution |
Volume: | 127 |
Issue: | 1 |
Number of pages: | 8 |
First page: | 156 |
Last Page: | 163 |
Funding institution: | National Geographic SocietyNational Geographic Society [CRE-7629-04, CRE-8412-08, GEFNE-53-12]; Mohammed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund [11052709, 11052707, 11052499]; Fundacao para a Ciencia e TecnologiaPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [FCT: PTDC/BIA-BEC/099934/2008]; FEDER funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors -COMPETE [FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-008917]; FCTPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [IF/459/2013, IF/1425/2014, SFRH/BPD/84822/2012] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |