Little mtDNA variation was observed among populations of the bisexual Caucasian rock lizard
Lacerta mixta and unisexual
L. dahli and
L. armeniaca. Three haplotypes were detected in
L. mixta and the maximum pairwise difference among the samples was 0.67%. No intra- and interspecific variation was found among populations
of either
L. armeniaca or
L. dahli. Moreover, both unisexual species were identical to one of the three haplotypes of
L. mixta. The limited variation in
L. mixta is likely the result of bottleneck effect, although the small sample size may also be responsible. The lack of variation
in the unisexuals was attributed to the restricted variation among the maternal parents, limited involvement of females in
the hybridization, and recent origin.
armeniaca
-
dahli
-
Lacerta
- mtDNA - unisexuality
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.