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Conservation Genetics

, Volume 18, Issue 2, pp 287–296 | Cite as

Hybridisation between turtle subspecies: a case study with the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis)

  • Matthieu Raemy
  • Uwe Fritz
  • Marc Cheylan
  • Sylvain Ursenbacher
Research Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Genetic introgression has recently become an important concern for conservation genetics as it can occur between rare and related common species, between various genetic groups and between individuals from different origins. Our aims were: (i) to determine whether hybridisation or introgression occurs between Emys orbicularis subspecies in a natural contact zone in France; (ii) to determine the geographic extent of the contact zone between distinct subspecies in France; (iii) to evaluate at which level introgression occurs, and finally; (iv) to evaluate whether combining mitochondrial and nuclear genetic markers reflects the same contact zone as when only one genetic marker is used. Introgression was evaluated by genotyping biparentally inherited microsatellites and sequencing the maternally inherited cytochrome b gene of French populations. We demonstrated strong introgression between subspecies under natural conditions in the old contact zone in southern and eastern France. Our results corroborated that introgression reflects past natural events, but also demonstrated that human impact has altered these patterns. We finally confirmed that the combination of mitochondrial and nuclear genetic markers is more appropriate to reveal introgression than the use of only one genetic marker.

Keywords

Conservation genetics France Hybridisation Introgression 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all people who provided samples from French populations: Mathieu Détaint (Conservatoire Régional d’Espaces Naturels Aquitaine), Céline Faure and Benjamin Vollot (natural reserve of Pont-de-Gau), Nadège Gauter (Conservatoire Régional d’Espaces Naturels Aquitaine), Anthony Olivier (natural reserve of Tour-du-Valat), Zoey Owen-Jones (natural reserve of Chérine), Vincent Rivière (Agirécologique) and Timothée Schwartz (A Rocha France). We would also like to thank the French Ministry of Ecology for the capture permits and two reviewers for constructive comments.

Supplementary material

10592_2016_901_MOESM1_ESM.doc (1.1 mb)
Supplementary material 1 (DOC 1175 kb)

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Environmental Sciences, Section of Conservation BiologyUniversity of BaselBaselSwitzerland
  2. 2.Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde)Senckenberg DresdenDresdenGermany
  3. 3.Laboratoire Biogéographie et Ecologie des vertébrésCEFE UMR 5175, CNRS – EPHEMontpellierFrance

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