Is Evolution of Blind Mole Rats Determined by Climate Oscillations?

The concept of climate variability facilitating adaptive radiation supported by the ‘‘Court Jester’’ hypothesis is disputed by the ‘‘Red Queen’’ one, but the prevalence of one or the other might be scale-dependent. We report on a detailed, comprehensive phylo-geographic study on the ,4 kb mtDNA sequence in underground blind mole rats of the family Spalacidae (or subfamily Spalacinae) from the East Mediterranean steppes. Our study aimed at testing the presence of periodicities in branching patterns on a constructed phylogenetic tree and at searching for congruence between branching events, tectonic history and paleoclimates. In contrast to the strong support for the majority of the branching events on the tree, the absence of support in a few instances indicates that network-like evolution could exist in spalacids. In our tree, robust support was given, in concordance with paleontological data, for the separation of spalacids from muroid rodents during the first half of the Miocene when open, grass-dominated habitats were established. Marine barriers formed between Anatolia and the Balkans could have facilitated the separation of the lineage ‘‘Spalax’’ from the lineage ‘‘Nannospalax’’ and of the clade ‘‘leucodon’’ from the clade ‘‘xanthodon’’. The separation of the clade ‘‘ehrenbergi’’ occurred during the late stages of the tectonically induced uplift of the Anatolian high plateaus and mountains, whereas the separation of the clade ‘‘vasvarii’’ took place when the rapidly uplifting Taurus mountain range prevented the Mediterranean rainfalls from reaching the Central Anatolian Plateau. The separation of Spalax antiquus and S. graecus occurred when the southeastern Carpathians were uplifted. Despite the role played by tectonic events, branching events that show periodicity corresponding to 400-kyr and 100-kyr eccentricity bands illuminate the important role of orbital fluctuations on adaptive radiation in spalacids. At the given scale, our results supports the ‘‘Court Jester’’ hypothesis over the ‘‘Red Queen’’ one

An integrative systematic revision of the European southern birch mice (Rodentia: Sminthidae, Sicista subtilis group)

1. The systematics of the genus Sicista is unclear, mostly because of the high level of chromosomal variability within the genus. One of the most challenging groups for systematists is the steppic Sicista subtilis species group that extends from central Europe to Lake Baikal. We present a systematic review of these European southern birch mice using an integrative taxonomic approach. 2. In this review, we evaluate the degree of genetic and morphological differentiation of the Sicista subtilis complex by analysing 12 European populations, and propose a new taxonomic treatment for the subtilis group based on an integrative approach combining phylogenetic and morphometric analyses with a review on previously published cytogenetic and morphological data. 3. The phylogenetic relationship was reconstructed using sequences of the whole mitochondrial cytochrome b (CytB) and the nucleus-encoded interphotoreceptor binding protein (IRBP) under the maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood criteria. Based on whole CytB sequences, genetic distances were reconstructed and visualised among the taxa.These data were supplemented with multivariate analysis of the morphology of the baculum and of the penile spike of museum specimens. 4. Based on the genetic and the morphological data set, we suggest that the subspecies trizona and nordmanni should be raised to the species rank. We suggest Sicista trizona (Frivaldszky, 1865) and Sicista nordmanni (Keyserling and Blasius, 1840) as names for these species, respectively. 5. The species status of Sicista severtzovi is not supported by our results, so we recommend reclassifying it as a subspecies of Sicista subtilis. 6. Finally,the large genetic distance between the Hungarian and Romanian populations of Sicista trizona led us to describe the Romanian population as a new subspecies

An integrative systematic revision of the European southern birch mice (Rodentia: Sminthidae, Sicista subtilis group)

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An Extended dataset of occurrences of species listed in Resolution 6 of the Bern Convention from Ukraine

The dataset includes georeferenced occurrences of species listed in Annex I of Resolution 6 of the Bern Convention and, partly, in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. The dataset was compiled within the work of NGO "Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group" aimed to prepare a Shadow list of Emerald Network (European network Areas of Special Conservation Interest) in Ukraine - newly proposed territories aimed at conservation of particular species and habitats mentioned in Resolution 4 and 6 of the Bern Convention. The list was prepared in 2017-2020 for expanding the already existing Emerald Network of Ukraine. Based on actual registrations of flora and fauna collected and gathered by scientists and naturalists in a form of dataset, which is described in the following paper.This dataset provides information about 29,938 occurrences of species from the territory of Ukraine listed in Annex I of Resolution 6 of the Bern Convention, as well as in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. This is the largest public dataset on occurrences of rare and endangered species from Ukraine till now. Data presented here laid the foundations for the proposal of 106 approved Emerald Network sites (2019), as well as for 148 Emerald Network sites that were nominated in 2020. New insights on the endemic species Centaurea pseudoleucolepis Kleopow is provided, which was previously considered to be extinct, according to the IUCN Red List

An Extended dataset of occurrences of species listed in Resolution 6 of the Bern Convention from Ukraine

The dataset includes georeferenced occurrences of species listed in Annex I of Resolution 6 of the Bern Convention and, partly, in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. The dataset was compiled within the work of NGO "Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group" aimed to prepare a Shadow list of Emerald Network (European network Areas of Special Conservation Interest) in Ukraine - newly proposed territories aimed at conservation of particular species and habitats mentioned in Resolution 4 and 6 of the Bern Convention. The list was prepared in 2017-2020 for expanding the already existing Emerald Network of Ukraine. Based on actual registrations of flora and fauna collected and gathered by scientists and naturalists in a form of dataset, which is described in the following paper.This dataset provides information about 29,938 occurrences of species from the territory of Ukraine listed in Annex I of Resolution 6 of the Bern Convention, as well as in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. This is the largest public dataset on occurrences of rare and endangered species from Ukraine till now. Data presented here laid the foundations for the proposal of 106 approved Emerald Network sites (2019), as well as for 148 Emerald Network sites that were nominated in 2020. New insights on the endemic species Centaurea pseudoleucolepis Kleopow is provided, which was previously considered to be extinct, according to the IUCN Red List

Maximum likelihood phylogram of blind mole rates constructed by means of PhyMl.

<p>Branch values indicate the rate of heterogeneity (a). Neighbor-net graph showing relationship between clades “<i>vasvarii”,</i> “<i>leucodon”</i> and “<i>xanthodon”</i>. It shows that the clades are significantly separated (indicated by 100% bootstrap), but that among them some speciation-related processes such as hybridization or introgression could take place (b).</p