Population genetics of a colonizing lizard: Loss of variability in introduced populations ofPodarcis sicula

Abstract

Allozyme electrophoresis was used to study the genetic variability (proportion of polymorphic loci and heterozygosity) in insular populations (Corsica, Elba, Montecristo, Marettimo, Pantelleria) of the lacertid lizardPodarcis sicula. These populations were presumed to have originated from episodes of accidental anthropogenic introduction. In order to test the hypothesis of a man-aided colonization and to provide comparative data, heterozygosity and polymorphism were also estimated in autochthonous populations ofP. sicula from the Italian peninsula and Sicily. In each case, the presumed introduced population showed levels of genetic variability significantly lower than those detected in the autochthonous ones. Very little genetic differentiation was found among native and presumed colonist populations, Nei's standard genetic distances ranging from 0.001 to 0.009. These results strongly support the hypothesis thatP. sicula was only recently introduced to the studied islands, and provide additional evidence of reduced genetic variability due to founder effect in insular populations originating from episodes of human transportation.