title: Mitochondrial phylogeny shows multiple independent ecological transitions and northern dispersion despite of Pleistocene glaciations in meadow and steppe vipers (Vipera ursinii and Vipera renardi).
abstract: The phylogeny and historical demography of small Eurasian vipers of the Vipera ursinii and V. renardi complexes were studied using mitochondrial DNA sequences analysed with Bayesian inference, Maximum Likelihood and Maximum Parsimony approaches, and mismatch distributions. Diversification in the group resulted from an initial dispersion in the later Pliocene - Pleistocene in two directions: north-westwards via the Balkans (V. ursinii complex) and north-eastwards from Asia Minor via the Caucasus (V. renardi complex). An independent, comparatively recent transition occurred from montane habitats to lowland grasslands in different mitochondrial lineages during the Late Pleistocene, when representatives of the both complexes had reached lowland steppes to the north. Effective population size showed clear signs of rapid growth in eastern V. renardi, triggered by colonization of vast lowland steppes, but in western V. ursinii complex grew during the Last Glaciation and experienced stabilization in Holocene. Expansion and population growth in lowland lineages of V. renardi was not strongly affected by Pleistocene climatic oscillations, when cold, dry conditions could have favoured species living in open grasslands. The high diversity of closely related haplotypes in the Caucasus and Tien-Shan could have resulted from repetitive expansion-constriction-isolation events in montane regions during Pleistocene climate fluctuations. The mitochondrial phylogeny pattern conflicts with the current taxonomy.
authors.affiliation: The Museum of Nature at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Trinkler str. 8, Kharkiv 61058, Ukraine; Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum Braunschweig, Gausstrasse 22, Braunschweig D-38106, Germany; National Park "Dvorichansky", Privokzalna str. 51, Dvorichna, Kharkiv Oblast 62701, Ukraine. Electronic address: zinenkoa@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Oleksandr
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zinenko
authors.affiliation: Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum Braunschweig, Gausstrasse 22, Braunschweig D-38106, Germany.
authors.forename: Nikolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stümpel
authors.affiliation: Dagestan State University, Faculty of Biology, Department of Zoology, apt. 13, 37a, M. Gadzhiyeva st., Makhachkala, Dagestan 367025, Russia.
authors.forename: Lyudmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mazanaeva
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology of the Volga River Basin of Russian Academy of Science, Komzina str. 10, Togliatti 445003, Russia.
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bakiev
authors.affiliation: Tula Regional Exotarium, Oktyabr'skaya str. 26, Tula 300002, Russia.
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shiryaev
authors.affiliation: Volzhsko-Kamsky National Nature Biosphere Reserve, Vekchnik str., 1, Sadovyi set. Zelenodolsk distr., Tatarstan Republic 422537, Russia.
authors.forename: Aleksey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pavlov
authors.affiliation: The Shmalgauzen Institute of Zoology, National Academy of Science of Ukraine, B. Khemlnits'kogo st., 15, Kyiv-30, 01601, Ukraine.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kotenko
authors.affiliation: Karadagh Nature Reserve of Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Nauki str., 24, Theodosia 98188, AR Crimea, Ukraine.
authors.forename: Oleg
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kukushkin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genofond of Animals and Plants, Durmon-yuli str., 32, Toshkent, Uzbekistan.
authors.forename: Yury
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chikin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, al-Farabi Av., 93, Almaty 050060, Kazakhstan.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Duisebayeva
authors.affiliation: Göteborg Natural History Museum, Box 7283, SE-402 35 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nilson
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Science, Universitetskaya nab., 1, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia.
authors.forename: Nikolai L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Orlov
authors.affiliation: Federal State Institution Sochi National Park, Ul. Moskovskaya, 13, Sochi, Krasnodarsky Krai 354000, Russia.
authors.forename: Sako
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tuniyev
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Science, Universitetskaya nab., 1, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia.
authors.forename: Natalia B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Ananjeva
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China; Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum Braunschweig, Gausstrasse 22, Braunschweig D-38106, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Joger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D065948:Grassland; D006239:Haplotypes; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017819:Viperidae / Q000145:classification*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Historical demography; Mitochondrial phylogeny; Pleistocene; Vipera renardi complex; Vipera ursinii complex