Schild, Andreas; Baur, Hannes; Hertwig, Stefan T; Fritz, Uwe; Ursenbacher, Sylvain (2024). Genetic identification, morphology and distribution of Natrixhelvetica subspecies in southern and western Switzerland (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes). Zookeys, 1205, pp. 223-238. Pensoft Publishers 10.3897/zookeys.1205.123911
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Most of Switzerland is inhabited by the nominotypical subspecies of the barred grass snake (Natrixhelveticahelvetica), which is characterized by mitochondrial DNA lineage E. Only in the northeast of the country, the common grass snake (N.natrix) occurs and hybridizes with N.h.helvetica in a narrow contact zone. However, we discovered that in southern and western Switzerland barred grass snakes representing another mtDNA lineage (lineage C) are widely distributed. Lineage C is typical for Alpine populations of the southern subspecies N.h.sicula. Our microsatellite analyses of the Swiss samples revealed differences between the two subspecies and also a substructure with two clusters in each subspecies. Furthermore, we discovered a contact and hybrid zone of N.h.helvetica and N.h.sicula along the northern shore of Lake Geneva and also confirm that interbreeding with alien common grass snakes (N.n.moreotica, mtDNA lineage 7) occurs there. This finding is of concern for nature conservation and measures should be taken to prevent further genetic pollution. Using morphometrics, we found no differences between the two subspecies of N.helvetica, while N.natrix was slightly distinct from N.helvetica.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Baur, Hannes, Hertwig, Stefan |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology |
ISSN: |
1313-2989 |
Publisher: |
Pensoft Publishers |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Pubmed Import |
Date Deposited: |
08 Jul 2024 10:14 |
Last Modified: |
08 Jul 2024 10:23 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.3897/zookeys.1205.123911 |
PubMed ID: |
38966573 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Microsatellites mitochondrial DNA morphometrics nuclear DNA taxonomy |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/198564 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/198564 |
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