Evolutionary biology of the genus Apodemus Kaup, 1829 in Israel. Allozymic and biometric analyses with description of a new species: Apodemus hermonensis (Rodentia, Muridae).

Abstract

Allozymic and biometric analyses were conducted on 195 speci mens belonging to the genus Apodemus from Israel. Genetic varia tion and differentiation were investigated by means of electro‐phoretic analysis of 36 gene loci. The electrophoretic results, com bined with biometric analysis, indicated the existence of a new Apodemus species, A. hermonensis, for which a formal description is given. The most common species in Israel, after A. mystacinus, is A. flavicollis and not A. sylvaticus, as commonly believed. So far we have found no A. sylvaticus in Israel. A. hermonensis was found on Mount Hermon, at about 2000 m. The body and skull sizes are intermediate between those of A. microps and A. sylvaticus. Geneti cally, it is very close to A. flavicollis, from which it can be distin guished by one locus (Np) fixed for an allele never found in Israeli populations of A. flavicollis, and another locus which is partially discriminant (Ada). In both A. mystacinus and A. flavicollis, the Israeli populations showed low values of genetic distance in in‐traspecific comparisons (0.002 ≤ D ≤ 0.010). High genetic dis tance was found between A. mystacinus and A. flavicollis (D = 0.460) and between A. mystacinus and A. hermonensis (D = 0.463). A low mean genetic distance was found between A. flavicollis and A. hermonensis, D = 0.057, suggesting a recent speciation event in the isolated population found on the heights of Mount Hermon.

Key words:

• A. hermonensis
• Apodemus
• Allozyme variation
• Biochemical evolution
• Phylogenetic relationships
• Speciation