Abstract
During the Late Pleistocene, narrow-headed voles (Lasiopodomys gregalis) inhabited Eurasia’s vast territories, frequently becoming the dominant small mammal species among steppe-tundra communities. We investigated the relationship between this species’ European and Asiatic populations by sequencing the mtDNA genomes of two extant specimens from Russia and 10 individuals from five Central European sites, dated to the post-LGM period. Phylogenetic analyses based on a large portion of mtDNA genomes highly supported the positioning of L. gregalis within Arvicolinae. The phylogeny based on mtDNA cytochrome b sequences revealed a deep divergence of European narrow-headed voles from Asiatic ones and their sister position against the extant L. gregalis and L. raddei. The divergence of the European lineage was estimated to a minimum 230 thousand years ago. This suggest, contrary to the current biogeographic hypotheses, that during the interglacial periods narrow-headed vole did not retreat from Europe but survived the unfavourable conditions within the refugial areas. Based on this result, we propose to establish a cryptic species status for the Late Pleistocene European narrow-headed vole and to name this taxon Lasiopodomys anglicus.
Highlights
The extant narrow-headed vole (Lasiopodomys gregalis) inhabits Asia’s vast territories, its range is disjunct into several areas of tundra in Arctic Russia from Northern Dvina River, Yamal Peninsula, to Kolyma River, forest-tundra in Central Yakutia and steppe and forest-steppe belt from Kama River East to Amur River, and from south Siberia, Tian Shan to interfluve of rivers Huang He and Yangtze in East China[1] (Fig. 1)
The recovered tree consisted of two main branches, the first of which comprised the subgenera Microtus (Microtus arvalis, Microtus mystacinus (= levis)) and Terricola (Microtus subterraneus), which formed a sister clade to Agricola (Microtus agrestis) and Iberomys (Microtus cabrerae) with Microtus ochrogaster being the basal species
The second branch consisted of narrow-headed voles (L. gregalis) from both the extant and the Late Pleistocene, which clustered with L. mandarinus forming together a sister clade to the genus Alexandromys represented here by A. fortis, A. oeconomus and A.kikuchii
Summary
The extant narrow-headed vole (Lasiopodomys gregalis) inhabits Asia’s vast territories, its range is disjunct into several areas of tundra in Arctic Russia from Northern Dvina River, Yamal Peninsula, to Kolyma River, forest-tundra in Central Yakutia and steppe and forest-steppe belt from Kama River East to Amur River, and from south Siberia, Tian Shan to interfluve of rivers Huang He and Yangtze in East China[1] (Fig. 1). Throughout the Late Pleistocene, the narrow-headed vole was either the dominant or subdominant small mammal species, within steppe-tundra environments of many regions in the European Plain, from southern France[12] through Benelux Countries[13], Central Europe[14] to Ukraine and Russia[15] (Fig. 1). It was suggested that despite the Holocene’s range contraction, narrow-headed vole populations maintained a high genetic diversity[16]. To better understand the relationship between European and Asiatic populations of narrow-headed voles we sequenced mtDNA genomes from 10 specimens excavated from Late Pleistocene sites in Central Europe (Fig. 1)
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