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ABSTRACT
Data are given on the genetic variation and divergence among 14 hedgehog populations of the species Erinaceus europaeus, E. concolor, and Hemiechinus auritus from Spain, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt. The electrophoretic analysis was carried out on 30 gene loci. The overall mean heterozygosity for all the populations sampled was H = 0.032. The mean value of genetic distance between the two genera Hemiechinus and Erinaceus was D = 0.572, ranging from 0.494 to 0.687. The mean value of genetic distance between E. europaeus and E. concolor was D = 0.201. Populations of E. concolor from Israel and Asia Minor were highly differentiated from those from Europe. The mean genetic distance between these populations and European ones was D = 0.154, ranging from 0.122 to 0.207. The present results indicate that European E. concolor populations are genetically distinct from the Anatolian and Israeli ones, supporting the validity of the taxon roumanicus as a separate species. Among populations of Erinaceus europaeus a high differentiation was found between the Iberian sample and the other European populations (D = 0.173, ranging from 0.113 to 0.198). The taxon hispanicus could therefore represent a distinct species, closely related to E. europaeus.