Genomic and mitochondrial evidence of ancient isolations and extreme introgression in the four-lined snake

A new, rare, small-ranged, and endangered mountain snake of the genus Elaphe from the Southern Levant

The genus Elaphe Fitzinger, 1833 includes 17 species of charismatic, large-sized, non-venomous, Eurasian snakes. In the Western Palearctic, the genus is represented by three species from the Elaphe quatuorlineata group ranging from the Apennine peninsula to Central Asia. The southernmost population of this group is distributed in the mountains of the Southern Levant, with more than 400 km gap to other Elaphe populations. This population has been known to science for only 50 years and is virtually unstudied due to its extreme rarity. We studied these snakes' morphological and genetic variation from the three countries where they are known to occur, i.e., Israel (Hermon, the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights), Lebanon, and Syria. We used nine mitochondrial and nuclear genes, complete mitogenome sequences, and a comprehensive morphological examination including published data, our own field observations, and museum specimens, to study its relationship to other species in the group. The three currently recognized species of the group (E. quatuorlineata, E. sauromates, E. urartica), and the Levant population, form four deeply divergent, strongly supported clades. Three of these clades correspond to the abovementioned species while the Southern Levant clade, which is genetically and morphologically distinct from all named congeners, is described here as a new species, Elaphe druzei sp. nov. The basal divergence of this group is estimated to be the Late Miocene with subsequent radiation from 5.1 to 3.9 Mya. The revealed biogeography of the E. quatuorlineata group supports the importance of the Levant as a major center of endemism and diversity of biota in Eurasia. The new species is large-sized and is one of the rarest snakes in the Western Palearctic. Because of its small mountain distribution range, in an area affected by land use and climate change, the new Elaphe urgently needs strict protection. Despite political issues, we hope this will be based on the cooperation of all countries where the new species occurs.

Ecomorphological divergence and lack of gene flow in two sympatric Balkan slow worms (Squamata: Anguidae)

The slow-worm lizards of the genus Anguis show significant morphological, behavioural and ecological uniformity owing to their limbless, elongated bodies and semifossorial lifestyle. This makes the delimitation of species challenging. Five monophyletic, deeply divergent and mostly parapatric mitochondrial lineages are currently recognized, although hybridization occurs along contact zones. In the southern edge of the range of the genus, two endemic Balkan Anguis (Anguis graeca and Anguis cephallonica) share a broad area of co-distribution and intermediate morphological characteristics. Expecting to retrieve hybrids within the overlap in their distributions, we used genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms but did not recover any evidence of interspecific gene flow. Within each species, genomic data revealed shallow population structuring influenced by spatial isolation, with the exception of the southernmost population of A. cephallonica from the Mani Peninsula. Species distribution modelling showed a lack of strong niche overlap and specific environmental preferences; both species showed a precipitation dependence, but A. cephallonica was better acclimatized to high temperatures. Finally, geometric morphometrics of the head shape suggested morphological divergence, mostly seen in the elongation of the head of A. cephallonica. All the evidence supports a long and complete reproductive isolation between the two southern slow worms and raises questions about how ecomorphological divergence might have acted to promote their speciation.

A sheep in wolf's clothing: Elaphe xiphodonta sp. nov. (Squamata, Colubridae) and its possible mimicry to Protobothrops jerdonii

Based on combined morphological and osteological characters and molecular phylogenetics, we describe a new species of the genus Elaphe that was discovered from the south slope of the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi, China, namely Elaphe xiphodonta sp. nov. It is distinguished from the other congeners by a combination of the following characters: dorsal scales in 21-21-17 rows, the medial 11 rows keeled; 202-204 ventral scales, 67-68 subcaudals; two preoculars (including one subpreocular); two postoculars; two anterior temporals, three posterior temporals; reduced numbers of maxillary teeth (9+2) and dentary teeth (12); sharp cutting edges on the posterior or posterolateral surface of the rear maxillary teeth and dentary teeth; dorsal head yellow, three distinct markings on the head and neck; a distinct black labial spot present in supralabials; dorsum yellow, 46-49 complete (or incomplete) large black-edged reddish brown blotches on the body and 12-19 on the tail, two rows of smaller blotches on each ventrolateral side; ventral scales yellow with mottled irregular black blotches, a few irregular small red spots dispersed on the middle of the ventral. Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses, the new species forms the sister taxon to E. zoigeensis. The discovery of this new species increases the number of the recognized species in the genus Elaphe to 17.

Past connections with the mainland structure patterns of insular species richness in a continental-shelf archipelago (Aegean Sea, Greece)

Recent research in island biogeography has highlighted the important role of late Quaternary sea-level fluctuations in shaping biogeographic patterns in insular systems but focused on oceanic systems. Through this study, we aim investigate how late Quaternary sea-level fluctuations shaped species richness patterns in continental-shelf island systems. Focusing on the Aegean archipelago, we first compiled maps of the area's geography using published data, under three sea-level stands: (a) current; (b) median sea-level over the last nine glacial-interglacial cycles (MSL); and (c) Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We gathered taxon-island occurrences for multiple chorotypes of angiosperms, butterflies, centipedes, and reptiles. We investigated the impact of present-day and past geographic settings on chorological groups by analyzing island species-area relationships (ISARs) and using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) selection based on multiple metrics of goodness of fit. Our results confirm that the Aegean's geography has changed dramatically since the LGM, whereas the MSL only modestly differs from the present configuration. Apart for centipedes, paleogeographic changes affected both native and endemic species diversity through altering connections between land-bridge islands and the mainland. On land-bridge islands, we detected over-representation of native species and under-representation of endemics. Unlike oceanic islands, sea-level-driven increase of isolation and area contraction did not strongly shape patterns of species richness. Furthermore, the LGM configurations rather than the MSL configuration shaped patterns of endemic species richness. This suggests that even short episodes of increased connectivity with continental populations are sufficient to counteract the genetic differentiation of insular populations. On the other hand, the over-representation of native nonendemic species on land-bridge islands reflected MSL rather than LGM mainland connections. Our study shows that in terms of processes affecting species richness patterns, continental archipelagos differ fundamentally from oceanic systems because episodic connections with the mainland have profound effects on the biota of land-bridge islands.

Poor performance of DNA barcoding and the impact of RAD loci filtering on the species delimitation of an Iberian ant-eating spider

Genomic data provide unprecedented power for species delimitation. However, current implementations are still time and resource consuming. In addition, bioinformatic processing is contentious and its impact on downstream analyses is insufficiently understood. Here we employ ddRAD sequencing and a thorough sampling for species delimitation in Zodarion styliferum, a widespread Iberian ant-eating spider. We explore the influence of the loci filtering strategy on the downstream phylogenetic analyses, genomic clustering and coalescent species delimitation. We also assess the accuracy of one mitochondrial (COI) and one nuclear (ITS) barcode for fast and inexpensive species delineation in the group. Our genomic data strongly support two morphologically cryptic but ecologically divergent lineages, mainly restricted to the central-eastern and western parts of the Iberian Peninsula, respectively. Larger matrices with more missing data showed increased genomic diversity, supporting that bioinformatic strategies to maximize matrix completion disproportionately exclude loci with the highest mutation rates. Moderate loci filtering gave the best results across analyses: although larger matrices returned concatenated phylogenies with higher support, middle-sized matrices performed better in genetic structure analyses. COI displayed high diversity and a conspicuous barcode gap, revealing 13 mitochondrial lineages. Mitonuclear discordance is consistent with ancestral isolation in multiple groups, probably in glacial refugia, followed by range expansion and secondary contact that produced genomic homogenization. Several apparently (unidirectionally) introgressed specimens further challenge the accuracy of species identification through mitochondrial barcodes in the group. Conversely, ITS failed to separate both lineages of Z. styliferum. This study shows an extreme case of mitonuclear discordance that highlights the limitations of single molecular barcodes for species delimitation, even in presence of distinct barcode gaps, and brings new light on the effects of parameterization on shallow-divergence studies using RAD data.

Are population isolations and declines a threat to island endemic water striders? A lesson from demographic and niche modelling of Metrocoris esakii (Hemiptera: Gerridae)

Genetic stochasticity and bottlenecking in the course of Pleistocene glaciations have been identified as threatening the survival of local endemics. However, the mechanisms by which local endemic species balance the influences of these two events remain poorly understood. Here, we generated a double-digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq) data set, mined mitochondrial sequences and constructed ecological niche models for the island endemic water strider Metrocoris esakii (Hemiptera: Gerridae). We found that M. esakii comprised three divergent lineages (i.e., north, central and south) isolated by geographical barriers and generally experienced population declines with the constriction of suitable areas during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Further demographic model testing and stairway plots revealed a history of recent gene flow among the neighbouring lineages and rapid recovery at the end of the LGM, indicating that M. esakii at least had the potential for an adaptive response to population fragmentation and bottlenecking. The northern lineage did not show genetic bottlenecking during the LGM, which was probably due to its large effective population size (N_e ) from migration, which improved its adaptive potential. Relative to the ddRAD-seq data set, the demographic results based on mitochondrial sequences were less conclusive, showing weak differentiation and oversimplified demographic trajectories for the three genetic lineages. Overall, this study provides some degree of optimism for the survival of island endemic water striders from a demographic perspective, but further evaluation of their extinction risk under the impacts of human activities is required.