The possible origin of the common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768) in Ukraine

Oleksandra Oskyrko,Miguel A Carretero,Oleksiy Marushchak,Tobias Uller,Hanna Laakkonen,Daniel Jablonski,Iolanda Silva-Rocha

doi:10.3897/herpetozoa.33.e49683

Abstract

The phylogenetic relationships and possible origin of a putative non-native population of Podarcis muralis in Ukraine were assessed based on sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Ukrainian lizards belong to two distinct mitochondrial lineages (haplogroups), both occurring within the Central Balkan clade, which includes most of central and south-eastern European populations. From overall three detected Ukrainian haplotypes, one haplotype share same genetic signal with the hyplotype from the locality Bjala (Bulgaria), the other two are unique for Ukrainian population. Two of haplotypes correspond with haplogroup covering large geographic region of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania. These results reinforce previous findings that the species has the ability to establish new populations out of its native range. While most introductions to Germany and Britain have been deliberate, it appears likely that human transport of goods via the Danube river of goods is responsible for the range expansion into Ukraine.

Highlights

656 bp-long sequence alignment (Fig. 2), 23 mt haplotypes were detected within the Central Balkan clade structured into five main haplogroups (Figs 2, 3): haplogroup I found in the area from eastern Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina; and four Balkan haplogroups from western Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Ukraine
Ten mt haplotypes were detected in haplogroup II, three mt haplotypes in haplogroup herpetozoa.pensoft.net herpetozoa.pensoft.net
The Maximum Likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree indicates that the Ukrainian lizards belong to two distinct mt lineages, both occurring within the officially called Central Balkan clade, which includes most of the lizards from Eastern Europe

Summary

Introduction

Most terrestrial reptiles tend to have poor dispersal abilities (Steinitz et al 2006; Qian 2009). Lizards are the most abundant and widespread reptiles (Novosolov et al 2016) and many species live close to humans or in highly disturbed habitats. They can withstand long periods of starvation and desiccation, and many use small cavities as refuge, increasing their chances of being passively transported (McCue 2010; Silva-Rocha et al 2019). It is, not surprising that many lizard species have been introduced around the world. In some cases, repeated introductions of the same species increase the probability of admixture, which may enhance the invasive potential of introduced species (Kolbe et al 2007; Michaelides et al 2013) or increase the risk of hybridization with native species or lineages (Santos et al 2019)

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