title: Phylogeny and diversification of mountain vipers (Montivipera, Nilson et al., 2001) triggered by multiple Plio-Pleistocene refugia and high-mountain topography in the Near and Middle East.
abstract: The Near and Middle East is a hotspot of biodiversity, but the region remains underexplored at the level of genetic biodiversity. Here, we present an extensive molecular phylogeny of the viperid snake genus Montivipera, including all known taxa. Based on nuclear and mitochondrial data, we present novel insights into the phylogeny of the genus and review the status of its constituent species. Maximum likelihood methods revealed a montane origin of Montivipera at 12.3Mya. We then analyzed factors of mountain viper diversity. Our data support substantial changes in effective population size through Plio-Pleistocene periods. We conclude that climatic oscillations were drivers of allopatric speciation, and that mountain systems of the Near and Middle East have strongly influenced the evolution and survival of taxa, because climatic and topographical heterogeneities induced by mountains have played a crucial role as filters for dispersal and as multiple refugia. The wide diversity of montane microhabitats enabled mountain vipers to retain their ecological niche during climatic pessima. In consequence the varied geological and topographical conditions between refugia favoured genetic isolation and created patterns of species richness resulting in the formation of neoendemic taxa. Our data support high concordance between geographic distributions of Montivipera haplotypes with putative plant refugia.
authors.affiliation: State Museum of Natural History Braunschweig, Gaußstraße 22, Braunschweig D-38106, Germany. Electronic address: nikolaus.stuempel@gmx.de.
authors.forename: Nikolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stümpel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman 7631133131, Iran. Electronic address: khosro.rajabizadeh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rajabizadeh
authors.affiliation: Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Art and Science, Department of Biology, Aydın, Turkey. Electronic address: rhynchocalamus@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Aziz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Avcı
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Environment Centre Wales, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2UW, UK. Electronic address: w.wuster@bangor.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wüster
authors.affiliation: State Museum of Natural History Braunschweig, Gaußstraße 22, Braunschweig D-38106, Germany. Electronic address: u.joger@3landesmuseen.de.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Joger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D008877:Middle East; D010802:Phylogeny; D000068236:Refugium; D013045:Species Specificity; D017819:Viperidae / Q000145:classification*
keywords: Allopatric speciation; Divergence times; Montivipera; Near East and Middle East; Phylogeny; Phylogeography