20.500.12556/RUL-153190 Multiple transitions between realms shape relict lineages of Proteus cave salamanders In comparison to biodiversity on Earth's surface, subterranean biodiversity has largely remained concealed. The olm (Proteus anguinus) is one of the most enigmatic extant cave inhabitants, and until now little was known regarding its genetic structure and evolutionary history. Olms inhabit subterranean waters throughout the Dinaric Karst of the western Balkans, with a seemingly uniform phenotypic appearance of cave-specialized traits: an elongate body, snout and limbs, degenerated eyes and loss of pigmentation (“white olm”). Only a single small region in southeastern Slovenia harbours olms with a phenotype typical of surface animals: pigmented skin, eyes, a blunt snout and short limbs (“black olm”). We used a combination of mitochondrial DNA and genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data to investigate the molecular diversity, evolutionary history and biogeography of olms along the Dinaric Karst. We found nine deeply divergent species-level lineages that separated between 17 and 4 million years ago, while molecular diversity within lineages was low. We detected no signal of recent admixture between lineages and only limited historical gene flow. Biogeographically, the contemporaneous distribution of lineages mostly mirrors hydrologically separated subterranean environments, while the historical separation of olm lineages follows microtectonic and climatic changes in the area. The reconstructed phylogeny suggests at least four independent transitions to the cave phenotype. Two of the species-level lineages have miniscule ranges and may represent Europe's rarest amphibians. Their rarity and the decline in other lineages call for protection of their subterranean habitats. diversity evolutionary transitions olm phylogeography Proteus anguinus subterranean environments raznolikost evolucijski prehodi človeška ribica filogeografija true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2023-12-20 15:39:19 2023-12-20 16:02:03 2024-04-20 03:50:05 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2024 0 0 16 str. iss. 8, art. e16868 Vol. 33 2024 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 57 1365-294X 10.1111/mec.16868 149840387 Molecular_Ecology_-_2023_-_Recknagel_-_Multiple_transitions_between_realms_shape_relict_lineages_of_Proteus_cave.pdf Molecular_Ecology_-_2023_-_Recknagel_-_Multiple_transitions_between_realms_shape_relict_lineages_of_Proteus_cave.pdf 1 E97A45AC19C2BA0EC6ACDD3946133216 e3a88abe9a75fbe0a815754b80fa6d995609c53f471566a9d4c63b5137b5be46 cbb7d9c8-fe28-11ee-9e65-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=182907 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.16868 1 8f657415-9f45-11ee-8a8e-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=179117 Biotehniška fakulteta 0 0 0