title: Radix dolgini: The integrative taxonomic approach supports the species status of a Siberian endemic snail (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Lymnaeidae).
abstract: The molecular techniques are the standard tool for the study of the taxonomic position and phylogenetic affinities of the lymnaeid genus Radix Montfort, 1810, and the majority of the European representatives of this taxon have been studied in this respect. However, a plethora of nominal species of Radix described from Northern Asia (Siberia and the Russian Far East) are still characterized only morphologically, raising some doubts concerning their validity. In this paper, we present the triple (morphological, molecular, and zoogeographical) evidence that there is at least one endemic species of Radix, Radix dolgini (Gundrizer and Starobogatov, 1979), widely distributed in Siberia and Western Mongolia. Phylogenetically, it is a sister species to the European R. labiata (Rossmaessler, 1835) [=R. peregra auct.], and their common ancestor most probably lived in the Pliocene, nearly 3.25Myr ago. Our results assume the existence of an extended dispersal barrier for freshwater hydrobionts between Europe and Siberia in the Late Pliocene that may be important for biogeographical explanations. Three other nominal Siberian species of Radix: R. kurejkae (Gundrizer and Starobogatov, 1979), R. gundrizeri (Kruglov and Starobogatov, 1983), and R. ulaganica (Kruglov and Starobogatov, 1983) proved to be the junior synonyms of R. dolgini.
authors.affiliation: Saint-Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Emb., 7-9, 199034 Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation; Museum of Siberian Aquatic Molluscs, Omsk State Pedagogical University, Tukhachevskogo Emb., 14, 644099 Omsk, Russian Federation. Electronic address: radix.vinarski@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maxim V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Vinarski
authors.affiliation: Russian Museum of the Biodiversity Hotspots, Institute of Ecological Problems of the North, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Severnaya Dvina Emb. 23, 163000 Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Olga V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Aksenova
authors.affiliation: Russian Museum of the Biodiversity Hotspots, Institute of Ecological Problems of the North, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Severnaya Dvina Emb. 23, 163000 Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Yulia V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Bespalaya
authors.affiliation: Russian Museum of the Biodiversity Hotspots, Institute of Ecological Problems of the North, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Severnaya Dvina Emb. 23, 163000 Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Ivan N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Bolotov
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, Museum of Zoology, Königsbrücker Landstraße 159, 1109 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schniebs
authors.affiliation: Russian Museum of the Biodiversity Hotspots, Institute of Ecological Problems of the North, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Severnaya Dvina Emb. 23, 163000 Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Mikhail Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Gofarov
authors.affiliation: Russian Museum of the Biodiversity Hotspots, Institute of Ecological Problems of the North, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Severnaya Dvina Emb. 23, 163000 Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Alexander V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kondakov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008195:Lymnaea / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D012800:Siberia
keywords: Historical biogeography; Integrative taxonomy; Lymnaeidae; Radix dolgini; Siberia