From Caves to the Savannah, the Mitogenome History of Modern Lions () and Their Ancestors.

Lions () play a crucial ecological role in shaping and maintaining fragile ecosystems within Africa. Conservation efforts should focus on genetic variability within wild populations when considering reintroduction attempts. We studied two groups of lions from two conservation sites located in Zambia and Zimbabwe to determine their genetic make-up, information that is usually unknown to the sites.

Genetic Variability and Admixture Zones in the Italian Populations of Turkey Oak ( L.).

The Turkey oak ( L.) is widely distributed in Italy, where it is the ecologically dominant oak on sandy and acidic soil. In this work, we analysed 23 natural populations by means of eight SSR (microsatellite) markers, to obtain the first synthetic map of genetic variability for this species and to study its dispersion during the Holocene, due to the possibility that at least one refugium during the Last Glacial Maximum was in Italy.

Cryptic diversity within endemic Italian barbels: revalidation and description of new Barbus species (Teleostei: Cyprinidae).

Two fluviolacustrine lineages (SI1 Barbus and SI2 Barbus) of the Barbus genus have been recently detected in the Apulia-Campania ichthyogeographic district (southern Italy). The aim of this study was to determine the taxonomic status of these lineages by comparing them with the two already-established Italian fluviolacustrine species Barbus plebejus and Barbus tyberinus through a more in-depth molecular and morphological investigation. Genetic analyses were performed on both mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and nuclear (growth hormone paralog 2) DNA markers, and morphological analyses were carried out on specific age classes and purebred populations.

Multiple colonization and dispersal events hide the early origin and induce a lack of genetic structure of the moss in Antarctica.

The dispersal routes of taxa with transoceanic disjunctions remain poorly understood, with the potential roles of Antarctica not yet demonstrated. Mosses are suitable organisms to test direct intra-Antarctic dispersal, as major component of the extant Antarctic flora, with the cosmopolitan moss as ideal target species. We analyzed the genetic structure of to provide an evolutionary time frame for its radiation and shed light into its historical biogeography in the Antarctic region.

Genetic and morphological analyses reveal a complex biogeographic pattern in the endemic barbel populations of the southern Italian peninsula.

The Italian peninsula is a biodiversity hotspot, with its freshwater fish fauna characterized by high levels of local endemism. Two endemic fluvio-lacustrine fishes of the genus (barbel, family Cyprinidae) have allopatric distributions in the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic basins of Italy. inhabits the mid- to northern Adriatic basins, while is widespread in all central-northern basins draining into the Tyrrhenian Sea.