The European Pine Marten Martes martes (Linnaeus, 1758) Is Autochthonous in Sicily and Constitutes a Well-Characterised Major Phylogroup within the Species (Carnivora, Mustelidae).

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe faunal assemblages currently occurring on islands are often a mélange of native and non-native species, and the actual status of some of them is doubtful at present. Since different laws are enforced for native and non-native species, sound knowledge about their status is pivotal for both their management and our understanding of the natural history of the studied areas. In the frame of this work, the Sicilian population of the European pine marten is genetically characterized for the first time, based on mitochondrial DNA sequences. Our results prove that the European pine marten is native on the island, where it arrived during the Pleistocene, and is represented there by a well-differentiated and endemic evolutionary lineage.No molecular data are currently available for the Sicilian populations of the European pine marten Martes martes, thus preventing any sound inference about its native or non-native status on the island, as well as the local phylogeography of the species. In order to investigate these issues, we sequenced two mtDNA markers in road-killed specimens collected in Sicily. Both markers consistently demonstrated the existence of a well-characterised Sicilian clade of the species, which is endemic to the island and constitutes the sister group of a clade including the Mediterranean and Central–North European major phylogroups of the European pine marten. Such evidence supports the autochthony of Martes martes in Sicily and points to a natural Pleistocene colonisation of the island followed by isolation. The occurrence of a, to date undetected, major phylogroup of the species in Sicily calls for the dedicated monitoring of the Sicilian populations of the species in order to preserve this evolutionarily significant unit.