Distribution of the slow worm (Anguis fragilis complex) with possible species delimitation in Serbia
Дистрибуција слепића (Anguis fragilis complex) у Србији, са могућим разграничењем врста
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2020
Authors:
Urošević, Aleksandar![](/themes/MirageIBISS/images/orcid.png)
Tomović, Ljiljana
Crnobrnja-Isailović, Jelka
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Krizmanić, Imre
Ajtić, Rastko
Labus, Nenad
Anđelković, Marko
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Nikolić, Sonja
Jović, Danko
Krstić, Milivoj
Maričić, Marko
Simović, Aleksandar
Paunović, Ana
Žikić, Vladimir
Ćorović, Jelena
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Vučić, Tijana
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Čubrić, Tijana
Džukić, Georg
Document Type:
Article (Published version)
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© 2020 by the Natural History Museum
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract:
In this study, we present an updated distribution data of Anguis fragilis
complex species in Serbia. The dataset consists of literature and Internet records,
coupled with previously unpublished distribution data gathered in the field. Of the two species of the complex, Anguis fragilis is present in the western and southern
parts of the country while Anguis colchica is present in the northeastern and
eastern parts of the country. There is an absence of both species in the
northernmost parts of the country, due to the lack of adequate habitat. The field
records tend to be more abundant in the Mountain-valley altitudinal region, and
scarcer and more scattered in the Peripannonian and Pannonian altitudinal regions,
which can partly be attributed to the sampling bias. The location and width of the
contact zone are still poorly known. It’s hypothesized to follow the Velika Morava
river valley to the south and then the boundary between the Carpathian-Balkan and
Rhodope mountain ranges in the southeast, but the hybrid zone could be situated
more to the west. There is a certain discrepancy, in the literature, between the
contact zone proposed by morphological data, and the one proposed by molecular
sampling. That stresses the need for thorough sampling in the region and further
analyses. Finally, since the taxonomic split between the cryptic slow worm taxa
was not yet recognized in our national nomenclature, this paper also presents the
official Serbian names for the two species. The species Anguis fragilis will keep
the standard Serbian name “Slepić”, while for the species Anguis colchica we
propose the name “Istočni slepić”.
Keywords:
Distribution; Anguis; zoogeography; hybrid zoneSource:
Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, 2020, 13, 253-265Funding / projects:
- National Park “Kopaonik” – project Monitoring vodozemaca i gmizavaca na prostoru Nacionalnog parka Kopaonik 2 (grants nos. 1124/2018, 1895/2019)
- Rufford Small Grants Foundation (grants no. 20507-B)
- Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia (grant no. 401-00- 00243/2014-08, the “DNA project”)
- Data collecting for Natura 2000 network in Republic of Serbia (grant no. JNOP 02/ 2019)
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200007 (University of Belgrade, Institute for Biological Research 'Siniša Stanković') (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200007)
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200178 (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology) (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200178)
- Evolution in Heterogeneous Environments: Adaptation Mechanisms, Biomonitoring and Conservation of Biodiversity (RS-MESTD-Basic Research (BR or ON)-173025)
- Diversity of the amphibians and reptiles on the Balkan Peninsula: evolutionary and conservation aspects (RS-MESTD-Basic Research (BR or ON)-173043)