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Postglacial Recolonization of Continental Europe by the Pygmy Shrew (Sorex minutus) Inferred From Mitochondrial and Y Chromosomal DNA Sequences

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Relict Species

Abstract

The postglacial recolonization of the pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus, n = 68) across continental Europe was examined using control region sequences (342 bp) and concatenated sequences (2,939 bp) of four paternally inherited introns, specific for the Y chromosome. Phylogenetic analysis (NJ, MP, ML, and Bayesian inference) of the control region retrieved five major lineages (Northern, Western, Italian, Balkan, and Spanish) in Europe, in agreement with the previous cytochrome b data. Our study identifies a new refugium for the pygmy shrew located in France during the Pleistocene glacial cycles and the most important refugium with regards to the recolonization of Eurasia was probably located in the Carpathians. In contrast, Y chromosome intron sequences retrieved four major lineages (Northern, Western, Italian, and Balkan). This may indicate contact between Western and Spanish mtDNA lineages after expansion from their respective refugia post-LGM. Our results also revealed differential introgression of mtDNA and Y chromosome markers at a local level when populations from different glacial refugia come into contact. These results highlight the importance of adopting a multiple marker approach when inferring phylogeographic structure and colonization history of species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Damien and Anne McDevitt, Jacqueline Fox, and Marine Pascal for field assistance in France. Thanks to Vitaly Volobouev and Michel Pascal for providing the appropriate licences for trapping and Alain Butet, Anne Tresset, and Carlos Nores for trapping advice. We particularly thank John O’Brien, James Carolan and everyone in Research Lab 4 (UCD) for technical assistance in the laboratory. We thank Don Stewart, John O’Brien, Rodrigo Vega, and Jerry Herman for their help and comments on the earlier drafts of the manuscript and Olaya Astudillo for help with figures. A.D. McDevitt was funded by the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) and a travel grant to France awarded by Enterprise Ireland. G. Yannic was supported by a grant from the Fondation Agassiz (Switzerland). J.B. Searle received field work funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Allan D. McDevitt & Thomas J. Hayden

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Glenn Yannic

  3. Department of Biology, University of York, 373, York, YO10 5YW, UK

    Ramugondo V. Rambau & Jeremy B. Searle

  4. Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland 7602, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Ramugondo V. Rambau

  5. DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland 7602, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Ramugondo V. Rambau

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  1. Allan D. McDevitt
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  2. Glenn Yannic
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  3. Ramugondo V. Rambau
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Correspondence to Allan D. McDevitt .

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  1. Musée National d´Histoire Naturelle Luxembourg, 25, rue Münster, 2160, Luxembourg

    Jan Christian Habel

  2. Institute of Ecology and Environmental Chemistry, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335, Lüneburg, Germany

    Thorsten Assmann

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McDevitt, A.D., Yannic, G., Rambau, R.V., Hayden, T.J., Searle, J.B. (2010). Postglacial Recolonization of Continental Europe by the Pygmy Shrew (Sorex minutus) Inferred From Mitochondrial and Y Chromosomal DNA Sequences. In: Habel, J.C., Assmann, T. (eds) Relict Species. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-92160-8_12

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