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2. Altitudinal distribution and outdoor occurrence in chromosomal races of the house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) in central Italy
- Creator:
- Castiglia, Riccardo and Caporioni, Marco
- Type:
- article and TEXT
- Subject:
- barn owl, evolutionary history, house mouse, Robertsonian race, chromosomal speciation, and Tyto alba
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- We reviewed the distribution of Robertsonian (Rb) races of Mus musculus domesticus in central and southern Italy. This Rb system is called the Apennine system and includes four races (Cittaducale, ICDE, 2n=22; Ancarano, IACR, 2n=24; Campobasso, ICBO, 2n=22; Colfiorito, ICOL, 2n=33–34) surrounded by standard populations with karyotype 2n=40. Here we evaluate the relationships between the altitudinal distribution of races, and the indoor vs. outdoor behaviour of populations, inferred from literature data on the diet of the barn owl Tyto alba. We assume that a higher prevalence of mice in owl pellets reflects a higher outdoor occurrence of mice. The IACR and ICDE races were found at higher altitudes than the standard populations, while the ICBO race is present at lower altitudes like the standard race. The standard race has indoor and outdoor populations; in all the Rb races an indoor life has been suggested by our data. This behaviour is only partly due to altitude, since the ICBO race also lives at sea level. We speculated that indoor life is an intrinsic characteristic of the ICBO race irrespective of the environment. This pattern reinforces the idea that indoor life, through its population dynamics, has played a significant role in the evolutionary history of Rb races.
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
3. European non-volant mammal diversity: conservation priorities inferred from phylogeographic studies
- Creator:
- Amori, Giovanni, Gippoliti, Spartaco, and Castiglia, Riccardo
- Type:
- article and TEXT
- Subject:
- conservation priorities, taxonomy, and mtDNA
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- The increasing use of phylogeographic studies, based on mitochondrial DNA, in European mammals not only provides the genetic structure of the populations and a reconstruction of the evolutionary history of each taxon but is also useful in identifying cryptic species and areas that may represent conservation priorities. We reviewed the published data (about 60 articles) reporting phylogeographic studies, based on sequences of mtDNA genes, in order to identify those populations representing putative species, not yet formally described among European mammal species of all orders, with the exception of Chiroptera. A DNA taxonomic approach and the value of subspecies are also discussed in relation to conservation activities.
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/