Mice on the borders: genetic determinations of rat and house mouse species in Lampedusa and Pantelleria islands (Southern Italy)

Chiara Sciandra,Giuseppe Mazza,Andrea Viviano,Fabio Bona,Emanuela Solano,Manuel Scarfò,Emiliano Mori,Riccardo Castiglia,Flavia Annesi

doi:10.21426/b637155716

Abstract

Biogeography and the occurrence of small mammals are usually hard to investigate due to the small size and secretive habits of these mammals. Available data are particularly insufficient on minor islands and at national borders, where research efforts are usually scarce. Here we briefly updated the knowledge on murid rodents on two remote Italian small islands (Lampedusa and Pantelleria) at the southernmost Italian borders. During summer 2019, house mice and rats were sampled in Lampedusa and Pantelleria and molecular markers were sequenced for species identification. The new sequences of Mus domesticus were also compared with samples from previous works collected in Lampedusa, Pantelleria, and several localities in the Mediterranean basin. Moreover, our analyses provided the first genetic evidence of the occurrence of Rattus norvegicus in Lampedusa. To conclude, R. rattus was confirmed to be present in Pantelleria. The newly collected haplotype of M. domesticus from Pantelleria is similar to those currently known for Sicily, whereas the new haplotype from Lampedusa partially diverges from the ones previously described, and clusters with haplotypes from North Africa and the Middle East.

Highlights

The most updated checklist of Italian Mammals reports the presence of 123 species and, amongst those, of 34 rodents (Loy et al, 2019)
During summer 2019, house mice and rats were sampled in Lampedusa and Pantelleria and molecular markers were sequenced for species identification
The new sequences of Mus domesticus were compared with samples from previous works collected in Lampedusa, Pantelleria, and several localities in the Mediterranean basin

Summary

Introduction

The most updated checklist of Italian Mammals reports the presence of 123 species and, amongst those, of 34 rodents (Loy et al, 2019). Assessing the actual distribution of small mammal species may be challenging, as it requires detailed fieldwork including direct captures with traps and/or the analysis of pellets of raptor birds (Angelici et al, 2009; Amori et al, 2015). Assessing the small mammal assembly is important on small islands, where the presence of alien rodents is reported to affect native ecosystems, e.g. native plants, insects and the breeding success of marine birds (Martin et al, 2000; Capizzi et al, 2010). Several chromosomal geographical variants (i.e. “races”) have been reported in Italy for this species (Loy et al, 2019), many of them settled on islands (Amori et al, 2008)

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Conclusion