M Lopes-Lima, J Geist, S Egg, L Beran, A Bikashvili, B Van Bocxlaer, A E Bogan, I N Bolotov, O A Chelpanovskaya, K Douda, V Fernandes, A Gomes-Dos-Santos, D V Gonçalves, M E Gürlek, N A Johnson, I Karaouzas, Ü Kebapçı, A V Kondakov, R Kuehn, J Lajtner, L Mumladze, K-O Nagel, E Neubert, M Österling, J Pfeiffer, V Prié, N Riccardi, J Sell, L D Schneider, S Shumka, I Sîrbu, G Skujienė, C H Smith, R Sousa, K Stöckl, J Taskinen, A Teixeira, M Todorov, T Trichkova, M Urbańska, S Välilä, S Varandas, J Veríssimo, I V Vikhrev, G Woschitz, K Zając, T Zając, D Zanatta, A Zieritz, S Zogaris, E Froufe
The global decline of freshwater mussels and their crucial ecological services highlight the need to understand their phylogeny, phylogeography and patterns of genetic diversity to guide conservation efforts. Such knowledge is urgently needed for Unio crassus, a highly imperilled species originally widespread throughout Europe and southwest Asia. Recent studies have resurrected several species from synonymy based on mitochondrial data, revealing U. crassus to be a complex of cryptic species. To address long-standing taxonomic uncertainties hindering effective conservation, we integrate morphometric, phylogenetic, and phylogeographic analyses to examine species diversity within the U...
March 4, 2024: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution