A new phylogeographic perspective on a classical refugial area - colonization patterns and geneflow of spectacled salamanders (genus Salamandrina) in Italy

• Applicant: Dr. Susanne Hauswaldt, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Evolution, Anthropology
• Term: from 2009 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 144139542

Peninsular Italy is considered one of the main ice-age refugia of Europe. Phylogeographic studies of various Italian taxa have found that the southernmost part (Calabria) harbors more strongly differentiated lineages compared to northern regions. We plan to elucidate the evolutionary history of the two distinct species of spectacled salamanders, Salamandrina perspicillata and S. terdigitata, which are endemic to Italy. These lineages split several million years ago and while S. perspicillata is only found in north, S. terdigitata is restricted to the south. One would expect much higher genetic diversity in the southern species, but preliminary data on the phylogeography of these species indicate a pattern of genetic diversity that is in complete discordance with those found in syntopic amphibian species. Genetic differentiation seems remarkably low in both species. Thus, despite their independent evolutionary history, similar or maybe the same mechanisms must have shaped the population structure within the area of both species independently. Additionally, we will analyze the finescale population genetic structure of S. perspicillata in the Lepini Mountains to help understand the level genetic diversity within and gene flow on the spatial scale of dispersal among (sub)populations, for which ecological and life-history parameter are well known. This study will be unprecedented in regard to sample size and numbers of markers analyzed, and we expect to find a good approximation of the true demographic histories on different geographic scales.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Persons: Dr. Claudio Angelini; Professor Dr. Sebastian Steinfartz