Reproductive potentials of two Triturus species from their hybrid zone
2019
Document Type:
Conference object (Published version)
,
© 2019 by the University of Milan, the University of Pavia, the Natural History Museum of Milan and the University of Milano-Bicocca
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Show full item recordAbstract:
We explored some of the life history traits of Triturus ivanbureschi and T. macedonicus. These two species
hybridize and form a large introgressive zone in central Balkan Peninsula which follows the specific species
displacement scenario: Triturus macedonicus widens its range and transects the range of T. ivanbureschi. One of
the important questions is whether, in the hybrid zone, one species has advantage over the other in reproduction
or survival. During three consecutive years, we compared reproductive potentials of the two species in common
garden experiments. The females of both species were introduced both to conspecific males and males of the other
species. We monitored their reproductive success: proportions of egg-laying females, the total number of deposited
eggs, and dynamics and duration of oviposition. Our results indicate that fecundity is largely influenced by
environmental factors as well as females’ affinities towards males, but specific differences in reproductive
potential between the species were not found.
In:
- XX European Congress of Herpetology. Program & Abstracts; 2019 Sep 2-6; Milan, Italy. Milan, Italy: University of Milan, the University of Pavia, the Natural History Museum of Milan and the University of Milano-Bicocca; 2019. p. 303.