Open AccessSpeciation on the Azores islands: congruent patterns in shell morphology, genital anatomy, and molecular markers in endemic land snails (Gastropoda, Leptaxinae)
Author(s) -
JORDAENS KURT,
VAN RIEL PATRICK,
FRIAS MARTINS ANTONIO M.,
BACKELJAU THIERRY
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
biological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1095-8312
pISSN - 0024-4066
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01197.x
Subject(s) - biology , genetic algorithm , gastropoda , ecological speciation , ecology , land snail , pulmonata , adaptive radiation , morphology (biology) , sex organ , evolutionary biology , archipelago , zoology , phylogenetics , gene flow , botany , genetic variation , biochemistry , gene
Morphological data, in combination with molecular data, may provide invaluable insights into speciation processes on archipelagos. Land snails offer ample opportunities to evalutate adaptive and non‐adaptive speciation scenarios. However, studies investigating processes of differentiation and speciation on the Azores are scarce. The present study comprises a morphometrical analysis of shell and genital characters in a group of Azorean land snails (Pulmonata, Leptaxinae). Geographical isolation appears to be an important mechanism underlying morphological and molecular differentiation in the Azorean Leptaxini, instead of adaptive radiation through ecological differentiation. Nevertheless, we could not exclude the occurrence of ecological speciation on the oldest island (Santa Maria) where two species that markedly differ in shell‐shape co‐occur. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 97 , 166–176.