Towards a monophyletic genus Albinaria (Gastropoda, Pulmonata): the first molecular study into the phylogenetic position of eastern Albinaria species |
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Authors: | DENNIS R UIT DE WEERD EDMUND GITTENBERGER |
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Institution: | Institute of Biology, Leiden University, PO Box 9516, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands; National Museum of Natural History, PO Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Recent molecular phylogenetic studies of the terrestrial snail genus Albinaria have caused a radical reassessment of its taxonomy. These studies, however, were limited to western species. This paper examines mitochondrial 12S sequences and nuclear ITS1 & 2 sequences of both eastern and western species, and demonstrates that Albinaria, in its most recent definition, is not monophyletic. Both molecular datasets place ' Albinaria ' hedenborgi from Lebanon in a well-supported clade with species of the genus Cristataria , distributed south-east of the vicariant range of Albinaria . The remaining species from Cyprus, Turkey and Greece constitute a well-supported monophyletic group. These two clades form geographical clusters, whereas Albinaria in the current definition (including ' A. ' hedenborgi ) has a disjunct distribution. ' A.' hedenborgi should therefore be classified with Cristataria , together with the morphologically similar and geographically close ' A. ' nadimi . © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 143 , 531?542. |
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Keywords: | 12S Cristataria internal transcribed spacer land snail molecular phylogeny |
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