Multiple transitions between realms shape relict lineages of Proteus cave salamanders

Recknagel, Hans (author), Zakšek, Valerija (author), Delić, Teo (author), Gorički, Špela (author), Trontelj, Peter (author)

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.

• Language: English
• Keywords: diversity, evolutionary transitions, olm, phylogeography, Proteus anguinus, subterranean environments
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: 16 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 33, iss. 8, art. e16868
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-153190
• UDC: 57
• ISSN on article: 1365-294X
• DOI: 10.1111/mec.16868
• COBISS.SI-ID: 149840387
• Publication date in RUL: 20.12.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Molecular ecology
• Shortened title: Mol. ecol.
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 1365-294X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 22959833

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: raznolikost, evolucijski prehodi, človeška ribica, filogeografija