title: Endemic species may have complex histories: within-refugium phylogeography of an endangered Iberian vole.
abstract: Glacial refugia protected and promoted biodiversity during the Pleistocene, not only at a broader scale, but also for many endemics that contracted and expanded their ranges within refugial areas. Understanding the evolutionary history of refugial endemics is especially important in the case of endangered species to recognize the origins of their genetic structure and thus produce better informed conservation practices. The Iberian Peninsula is an important European glacial refugium, rich in endemics of conservation concern, including small mammals, such as the Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae). This near-threatened rodent is characterized by an unusual suite of genetic, life history and ecological traits, being restricted to isolated geographic nuclei in fast-disappearing Mediterranean subhumid herbaceous habitats. To reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Cabrera vole, we studied sequence variation at mitochondrial, autosomal and sex-linked loci, using invasive and noninvasive samples. Despite low overall mitochondrial and nuclear nucleotide diversities, we observed two main well-supported mitochondrial lineages, west and east. Phylogeographic modelling in the context of the Cabrera vole's detailed fossil record supports a demographic scenario of isolation of two populations during the Last Glacial Maximum from a single focus in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, our data suggest subsequent divergence within the east, and secondary contact and introgression of the expanding western population, during the late Holocene. This work emphasizes that refugial endemics may have a phylogeographic history as rich as that of more widespread species, and conservation of such endemics includes the preservation of that genetic legacy.
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.|Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.|Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Corson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853-2701, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7806-4256
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
authors.forename: J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2569-0768
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paupério
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, UK.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Herman
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade de Évora, 7000-890, Évora, Portugal.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pita
authors.affiliation: CITAB, Centro de Investigação e Tecnologias Agroambientais e Biológicas, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), 5001-801, Vila Real, Portugal.
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Vale-Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: CITAB, Centro de Investigação e Tecnologias Agroambientais e Biológicas, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), 5001-801, Vila Real, Portugal.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cabral
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Avda Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Garrido-García
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Avda Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Soriguer
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.|Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beja
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade de Évora, 7000-890, Évora, Portugal.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mira
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.|Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.|Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.|Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.|Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Corson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853-2701, USA.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Searle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D056727:Endangered Species; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D000068236:Refugium; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: 
  Microtus cabrerae
  ; conservation genetics; glacial refugia; multilocus phylogeography; noninvasive sampling