scholarly journals A common toad hybrid zone that runs from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan W. Arntzen ◽  
Jacob McAtear ◽  
Roland Butôt ◽  
Iñigo Martínez-Solano

We document the distribution of the common toadBufo bufoand the spined toadB. spinosusat their contact zone across France with data from a mitochondrial DNA RFLP assay, complementing similar work including nuclear markers in the northwest and southeast of France and in Italy. We also reconstruct geographical clines across the species’ contact zone in central France.Bufo bufois found in the north-eastern half of France.Bufo spinosusis found in the south-western complement. The contact zone they form runs from the Atlantic coast near Caen, France, to the Mediterranean coast near Savona, Italy, and has a length of over 900 km. In central FranceB. bufoandB. spinosusengage in a hybrid zone with a unimodal genetic signature. Hybrid zone width is ca. 10 km at mitochondrial DNA and averages at 61 km for four nuclear loci. The hybrid zone is distinctly asymmetric with a signature ofB. spinosusinB. bufoand not the other way round. We attribute this observation toB. bufomoving southwards at the expense ofB. spinosus, with introgression in the direction of the advancing species. We noted substantial geographic variation in characters for species identification. Morphological species identification performs well in France, but breaks down in Italy. Mitochondrial DNA is inconclusive in south-eastern France and Italy. The nuclear genetic markers perform consistently well but have not yet been applied to the zone in full. Possible, but surely heterogeneous ecological correlates for the position of the hybrid zone are mountains and rivers.

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1227-1236 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Kaabouben ◽  
M. A. Baptista ◽  
A. Iben Brahim ◽  
A. El Mouraouah ◽  
A. Toto

Abstract. A primary tool for regional tsunami hazard assessment is a reliable historical and instrumental catalogue of events. Morocco by its geographical situation, with two marine sides, stretching along the Atlantic coast to the west and along the Mediterranean coast to the north, is the country of Western Africa most exposed to the risk of tsunamis. Previous information on tsunami events affecting Morocco are included in the Iberian and/or the Mediterranean lists of tsunami events, as it is the case of the European GITEC Tsunami Catalogue, but there is a need to organize this information in a dataset and to assess the likelihood of claimed historical tsunamis in Morocco. Due to the fact that Moroccan sources are scarce, this compilation rely on historical documentation from neighbouring countries (Portugal and Spain) and so the compatibility between the new tsunami catalogue presented here and those that correspond to the same source areas is also discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Trujillo ◽  
Jorge Gutiérrez-Rodríguez ◽  
Jan W. Arntzen ◽  
Iñigo Martínez-Solano

The use of hyper-variable markers across species is often hindered by low cross-species amplification success, a reduced level of polymorphism or a high frequency of null alleles. However, optimizing sets of reliable and informative markers that can be consistently amplified and scored across taxa is key to address questions about patterns of genetic diversity and structure, hybridization and speciation. Here we present 14 newly developed microsatellite markers in the Spined toad (Bufo spinosus), assess their polymorphism in two Iberian populations and test for cross-species amplification in the closely related Common toad (Bufo bufo). We then use the 12 loci co-amplifying in both species to the study of a morphologically intermediate population (Moyaux) from the contact zone in northwest France as well as reference populations of the two species from both sides of the contact zone. Individuals from Moyaux had mtDNA haplotypes of the two species and were identified as hybrids in analyses with software NewHybrids. These results provide solid evidence for ongoing hybridization between B. bufo and B. spinosus, with no apparent restrictions to gene flow.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 307-315
Author(s):  
Özgür Güçlü ◽  
Bülent Bozdoğan

The Nile soft-shelled turtle (Trionyx triunguis) is distributed between Dalyan and Samandağ throughout the Mediterranean coast in Turkey. The Mediterranean subpopulation of the Nile soft-shelled turtle is listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List Categories. This investigation aimed to determinate levels of genetic variations and patterns of genetic structures among Mediterranean populations in Turkey by using T. triunguis-specific microsatellite primers. A total of 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci were studied among samples of 121 individuals collected from five populations in Turkey. Of 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci used, 3 new were identified in this study. The genetic differentiation among the 5 studied populations of T. triunguis was significant (p 0.001). The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that genetic variations occurred mainly within populations (89.7%) rather than among populations (10.3%). Structure analysis showed presence of two main groups among the Mediterranean T. triunguis populations. However genetic variations among populations were not correlated with geographic distance between the locations. Analysis of data showed that one of the populations (Dalyan) had undergone a bottleneck effect. Migration analysis indicates that T. triunguis migrates between five Mediterranean populations in Turkey. We concluded that based on our results the status of ‘critically endangered’ of T. triunguis should be maintained. Long term population genetic survey studies should be undertaken and changes in habitats of T. triunguis populations, as well as their population size and structure should be monitored for each population to be able to establish a clear strategy for protection of T. triunguis.


Author(s):  
Элеонора Кормышева ◽  
Eleonora Kormysheva

The diachronic trends in socio-economic and cultural development of the societies in the Nile valley are revealed based on the materials from Giza necropolis (the 3rd millennium BC) and the settlement of Abu Erteila (1st century AD). The research made it possible to trace the typological similarities in the evolution of the studied societies in cultural and historical contexts. The main fields of the research were epigraphy, iconography, social history, and material culture. Many previously unknown monuments discovered by Russian archaeologists in Egypt and Sudan were introduced into scientific discourse. The basis was created for studying the Nile valley as a contact zone between the Mediterranean world and Africa.


Author(s):  
Peter Behnstedt ◽  
Manfred Woidich

This chapter deals with the sedentary dialects of Egypt, excluding the bedouin dialects of Sinai and the Libyan bedouin dialects on the Mediterranean coast. It attempts to combine historical information on the settlement of Arabic tribes in Egypt with accounts of present-day Egyptian dialects and those of the regions from which those tribes came, initially Yemen and the Levant, later Hejaz, and then the Maghreb. The diversity of the Egyptian Arabic dialect area is partly explained by external factors, namely different layers of arabization over centuries. It is also explained by internal factors, namely dialect contact, which implies phenomena such as hyperdialectisms. Egypt is seen as a dialect area in its own right, but one that shows phenomena of a transitional area between the Arab East and West. A case study of Alexandria deals with dialect death. The role of substrata is discussed, but is considered negligible.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 388-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abdelaal ◽  
Dalia Ahmed ◽  
Mauro Fois ◽  
Giuseppe Fenu ◽  
Gianluigi Bacchetta

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Molina ◽  
Giorgio Manno ◽  
Carlo Lo Re ◽  
Giorgio Anfuso ◽  
Giuseppe Ciraolo

This paper investigates wave climate and storm characteristics along the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, for the period 1979–2014, by means of the analysis of wave data on four prediction points obtained from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Normally, to characterize storms, researchers use the so-called “power index”. In this paper, a different approach was adopted based on the assessment of the wave energy flux of each storm, using a robust definition of sea storm. During the investigated period, a total of 2961 storm events were recorded. They were classified by means of their associated energy flux into five classes, from low- (Class I) to high-energetic (Class V). Each point showed a different behavior in terms of energy, number, and duration of storms. Nine stormy years, i.e., years with a high cumulative energy, were recorded in 1980, 1983, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2001, 2008, 2010, and 2013.


2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvador Anton Clavé ◽  
Onofre Rullan Salamanca ◽  
José Fernando Vera Rebollo

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