From Europe to Africa and vice versa: evidence for multiple intercontinental dispersal in ribbed salamanders (Genus Pleurodeles)

Aim  The intricate puzzle-like geography of the western Mediterranean is a product of long-term tectonic and orogenic events, supplemented by repeated climatic oscillations since the Pliocene. It offers numerous vicariance events that may be invoked to explain speciation in amphibians. We test for plausibility of two mutually exclusive Iberian–African vicariance hypotheses to explain the basal split within newts of the genus Pleurodeles: (1) the disconnection of the Betic arch c. 14 Ma and (2) the end of the Messinian salinity crisis 5.33 Ma. Location  Specimens of P. waltl and P. poireti were sampled from 32 populations in Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Methods  Parts of th…