Phylogeographic structure of the Persian Squirrel, Sciurus anomalus Güldenstädt, 1785 (Mammalia: Rodentia) in the Anatolian Peninsula, based on mitochondrial DNA sequences: implications for metapopulation

The phylogenetic, phylogeographic and evolution history of Sciurus anomalus was studied in the Anatolian Peninsula using a 1726 bp region of the mitochondrial genome. The phylogenetic and network analyses of 32 specimens suggested that S. anomalus consists of two main mitochondrial lineages, an eastern and a western lineage. Both lineages are nested within the Greek and Lebanese populations, but not within the Syrian or Iranian populations. Coalescence analyses indicated that both lineages originated during the Chibanian geological stage under the climatic fluctuations, one of them within western Anatolia or the Aegean islands and the other one in eastern Anatolia or the Caucasus region. The neutrality and mismatch analyses offered a possible scenario suggesting the existence of different lineages in the Anatolian Peninsula. Isolation by distance typically represented a significant positive correlation between geographic distance and genetic divergence in both lineages. The analyses also suggest that the eastern and western lineages of S. anomalus may represent a metapopulation in Anatolia.