Inter-species differences within Central European hedgehogs

Bc. Anna Nováková

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Hedgehogs from Erinaceus genus are suitable models for research of Quaternary fluctuations and subsequent processes connected with secondary contact of the two previously diverged species. This thesis aimed to follow up the previous studies made about transect of the contact zone located in Central Europe, attempted to map the rest of the overlap in this area and to evaluate the outputs with formerly published results. We isolated DNA from 51 new samples from Germany, Poland and Austria and performed genetic analyses with the newly obtained samples and with the older datasets from previous studies using both mitochondrial control region and microsatellite markers. The results of the mtDNA and nuclear data analyses yielded distinctive results; in E. roumanicus, nuclear data showed higher variability over mitochondrial data and E. europaeus indicated more complex structure in the analyses of mtDNA. Discordance between results of mitochondrial and nuclear data suggests complex evolutionary history of the species and indicates processes, which shaped the population in the recent past. We did not detect any presence of hybrids in the new dataset; one individual did show signs of cytonuclear incompatibility from the area of Germany on the margin of distribution of E. roumanicus. This area should be addressed with closer investigation in future research. Recent expansion of populations was indicated in both species. We did find differentiations in outputs of the analyses in comparison with the original research but the evaluation of the dynamics of the contact zone should require a larger amount of data, what should be assessed in further research. However, outputs of this thesis did bring a fresh insight to the population structure of this intriguing species from the view of postglacial processes connected with recolonization of Europe and to the consequences it carries along.

Keywords

Erinaceus, inter-species interactions, population genetics, secondary contact, speciation

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 27. 4. 2018

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Mgr. Barbora Černá Bolfíková, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / Wildlife Management in the Tropics and Subtropics