I had the opportunity to attend the ESEB 2022 congress on 14-19 August 2022. I presented a poster on Molecular analysis of recently introduced populations of lizard supports invasiveness at species level. we provide molecular evidence regarding the origin of P. siculus in seven new introduced populations: Romania (Bucharest, Alba Iulia), Croatia (Zagreb, Karlovac), Italy (Lampedusa Island), Azerbaijan (Baku) and Canada (Vancouver). Taking advantage of the high genetic substructuring, we used mtDNA gene (cyt-b) of individuals from introduced populations and across the native range to identify the putative origins of these populations. Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that the Alba Iulia (Romania) population originated from Tuscany, while the population from Azerbaijan is admixed including two distinct clades (Sicily, Tuscany). Samples from Bucharest also have admixed origins in Tuscany and the Adriatic. Less surprisingly, samples from Zagreb and Karlovac are included within the Adriatic clade while those from Lampedusa originated from Sicily. The Canadian individual is derived from the Tuscany clade (together with published samples from Kansas, New York). Overall, our results, uncovering multiple origins and clade admixture in alien populations, demonstrate that genetic data are essential for inferring the invasion pathways of alien species, particularly in systems with a long history of human influence.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Poster
