Unravelling biodiversity, evolution and threats to conservation in the Sahara-Sahel
Deserts and arid regions are generally perceived as bare and rather homogeneous areas of low diversity. The Sahara is the largest warm desert in the world and together with the arid Sahel displays high topographical and climatic heterogeneity, and has experienced recent and strong climatic oscillations that have greatly shifted biodiversity distribution and community composition. The large size, remoteness and long-term political instability of the Sahara-Sahel, have limited knowledge on its biodiversity. However, over the last decade, there have been an increasing number of published scientific studies based on modern geomatic and molecular tools, and broad sampling of taxa of these region…
First helminthological data on the Iberian adder, Vipera seoanei.
Abstract Helminth fauna and some biotic and abiotic traits were analysed in Iberian adder Vipera seoanei (Squamata: Viperidae) a European viper nearly endemic to northern Iberian Peninsula, in an attempt to confirm previous claims of relationships between this ecological traits in this genus. A total of 317 samples mostly covering the distributional range of V. seoanei, were examined. Compared with other Vipera species from the Iberian Peninsula, the helminth fauna is also impoverished in V. seoanei, but it is contrary to other Vipera species from Central and East Europe. Helminths were mostly found in adult vipers, and occurred in vipers located at the periphery of the species range, chara…
Additional file 1 of Evolutionary history of two cryptic species of northern African jerboas
Additional file 1: Microsatellite optimization. Supplementary Tables and Figures.
First helminthological data on Iberian vipers: Helminth communities and host-parasite relationships
AbstractEuropean vipers are ambush predators with sporadic feeding events, thereby maintaining the digestive tract empty for long periods. According to previous studies relating lizards’ dietary habits and their helminth faunas, we predict poor gastrointestinal helminth communities in vipers. To test this hypothesis, we have examined the digestive tract of 86 specimens of Vipera aspis (L., 1758) and V. latastei Boscá, 1878, from several localities of the Iberian Peninsula. We found adults of only two nematode species Kalicephalus viperae (Rud., 1819) and Ophidascaris sp. and cysts adhering to the external wall on the stomach in case of two other nematode species Ascarops strongylina (Rud., …
Evolutionary history of two cryptic species of northern African jerboas
Abstract Background: Climatic variation and geologic change both play significant roles in shaping species distributions, thus affecting their evolutionary history. In Sahara-Sahel, climatic oscillations shifted the desert extent during the Pliocene-Pleistocene interval, triggering the diversification of several species. Here, we investigated how these biogeographical and ecological events have shaped patterns of genetic diversity and divergence in African Jerboas, desert specialist rodents. We focused on two sister and cryptic species, Jaculus jaculus and J. hirtipes, where we (1) evaluated their genetic differentiation, (2) reconstructed their evolutionary and demographic history; (3) tes…