Evolutionary genetics and systematics of the garden dormouse, <i>Eliomys</i> Wagner, 1840. 2‐allozyme diversity and differentiation of chromosomal races

Abstract

Abstract Genetic differentiation and divergence were analyzed among the circum‐Mediterranean chromosomal forms of the genus Eliomys. Twelve populations from Spain, Italy, Austria, Israel, and Morocco with five different karyotypes (2n = 46, 48, 50, 52, and 54) were investigated by electrophoretic analysis at 41 gene loci. The observed values of genetic variation were within the range generally reported for other rodents; the overall mean heterozygosity for all the populations sampled was 0.06, ranging from 0.01 to 0.12. The mean value of genetic distance between European and Middle East‐North African populations was D=0.248, indicating the presence of two distinct evolutionary lines in the genus Eliomys. Genetic distance between Moroccan (2n = 46) and Israeli (2n = 48) populations was D = 0.136. Values of genetic distance among the European populations were lower and ranged from 0.009 to 0.132, indicating a much more recent origin for the four chromosomal forms (2n = 48, 50, 52, and 54). The taxonomic status and the phylogenetic relationships among chromosomal forms of genus Eliomys are discussed.