Evolutionary history of the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) in the Palearctic region, with emphasis on the colonization of the Orkney Islands and Iceland

• Main Authors: Durieu, Benoit, Michaux, Johan
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: phylogeography; evolution; Apodemus; Life sciences; Genetics & genetic processes; Zoology; Sciences du vivant; Génétique & processus génétiques; Zoologie; Iceland
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/189736

To improve our knowledge concerning the hypothesis of northern refugia during the last glaciation for European species, we have focused our study on the evolutionary history of the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) throughout its Palearctic distribution. In addition, we also studied the wood mice populations from Orkney Islands and Iceland in order to understand their ways of colonization in the Atlantic islands. We used different molecular markers (cytb mitochondrial gene and a mitochondrial pseudogene). A geometric morphometric analysis using a morphological marker (mandible) was also used. This work highlights the potential existence of new wood mice lineages in Western Europe. These would be genetically differentiated, probably due to a geographical separation of an ancestral population in different refugia situated in the Iberian Peninsula during the last glacial maximum. Morphological differences also exist between the wood mice lineages. However, the study did not bring any evidence concerning the existence of Nordic refugia for this species. Concerning the insular populations, our results seem to show that populations from Orkney Islands and Iceland are genetically close to the Great Britain populations. They would have been introduced in these islands by Vikings or by earlier human populations. Additional sampling in Western Europe and in the Atlantic islands will clarify the origins of these populations.