SCIBERRAS, A. (2014) Some aspects of caudal autotomy of Podarcis filfolensis (Bedriaga 1876) The Herptile 39 : 1;15-23.

Evolutionary and demographic history of the Maltese wall lizard Podarcis filfolensis (abstract version 2013)

SALVI,D.,SCHEMBRI ,P.J., SCIBERRAS,A &HARRIS,J.D.(2014)Evolutionary history of the Maltese wall lizard Podarcis filfolensis: insights on the ‘Expansion–Contraction’ model of Pleistocene biogeography. Molecular Ecology 23: 1167–1187.

Evolutionary history of the Maltese wall lizard Podarcis

filfolensis: insights on the ‘Expansion–Contraction’ model

of Pleistocene biogeography

DANIELE SALVI,* PATRICK J . SCHEMBRI ,† ARNOLD SCIBERRAS‡ and D. JAMES HARRIS*

*CIBIO, Centro de Investigac_~ao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Gen_eticos, Campus Agr_ario de Vair~ao, 4485-661 Vair~ao, Portugal,

†Department of Biology, University of Malta, Msida MSD2080 Malta, ‡133, Arnest, Arcade Str., Paola, Malta

Abstract

The expansion–contraction (EC) model predicts demographic and range contraction of

temperate species during Pleistocene glaciations as a consequence of climate-related

habitat changes, and provides a paradigm for explaining the high intraspecific diversity

found in refugia in terms of long-term demographic stability. However, recent evidence

has revealed a weak predictive power of this model for terrestrial species in

insular and coastal settings. We investigated the Pleistocene EC dynamics and their

evolutionary consequences on temperate species using the Maltese archipelago and its

endemic lizard Podarcis filfolensis as a model system. The evolutionary and demographic

history of P. filfolensis as inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear sequences

data does not conform to the EC model predictions, supporting (i) demographic and

spatial stability or expansion, rather than contraction, of the northern and southern lineages

during the last glacial period; and (ii) a major role for allopatric differentiation

primed by sea-level dynamics, rather than prolonged demographic stability, in the formation

of the observed genetic diversity. When combined with evidence from other

Mediterranean refugia, this study shows how the incorporation of Pleistocene sea-level

variations in the EC model accounts for a reverse demographic and range response of

insular and coastal temperate biotas relative to continental ones. Furthermore, this

cross-archipelago pattern in which allopatric diversity is formed and shaped by EC

cycles resembles that seen between isolated populations within mainland refugia and

suggests that the EC model, originally developed to explain population fluctuations

into and out-of refugia, may be appropriate for describing the demographic and evolutionary

dynamics driving the high genetic diversity observed in these areas.

Keywords: Allopatric divergence, genetic diversity, glacial expansion, historical demography,

Mediterranean islands, phylogeography

Received 31 August 2012; revision received 30 December 2013; accepted 9 January 2014

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