Skórzewski Grzegorz, Borczyk Bartosz, Bury Stanisław, Kulik Daniel, Kotusz Jan
Museum of Natural History, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.
Department of Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Vertebrates, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.
PeerJ. 2025 Jan 6;13:e18563. doi: 10.7717/peerj.18563. eCollection 2025.
Legless lizards, the slow worms of the genus are forming secondary contact zones within their Europe-wide distribution.
We examined 35 populations of and to identify the level of morphological and genetic divergence in Poland. We applied a conventional study approach using metric, meristic, and categorial (coloration) features for a phenotype analysis, and two standard molecular markers, a mitochondrial (NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase chain 2; ) and a nuclear (V(D)J recombination-activating protein 1; ) one.
We found clear differences between and in molecular markers and phenotype-in meristic features, ear opening, number of scales rows around the body, and higher than so far known diversity in and haplotypes. The presence of five hybrids was detected in three populations in the Polish part of the European contact zone. In all hybrids, homozygous alleles of were detected, which suggests a back-crossing within the genus.
The ability to produce fertile offspring by x hybrids shows inefficient mechanisms of reproductive isolation of the two legless lizards. The hybrids were indistinguishable from parental species in head proportions (principal components and discriminant analyses) but more resembling in meristic traits.
无腿蜥蜴，即蜥蜴属的慢蠕虫，正在其欧洲范围内的分布区域内形成次生接触带。
我们检查了35个蜥蜴属和的种群，以确定波兰境内形态和遗传分化的程度。我们采用了传统的研究方法，使用度量、计数和分类（颜色）特征进行表型分析，并使用了两个标准分子标记，一个线粒体（烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸泛醌氧化还原酶链2；）和一个核（V(D)J重组激活蛋白1；）标记。
我们发现蜥蜴属和在分子标记和表型上存在明显差异——在计数特征、耳孔、身体周围鳞片行数方面，并且蜥蜴属和单倍型的多样性高于迄今已知的水平。在欧洲接触带波兰部分的三个种群中检测到了五个杂种。在所有杂种中，均检测到蜥蜴属的纯合等位基因，这表明在该属内存在回交现象。
蜥蜴属×杂种产生可育后代的能力表明这两种无腿蜥蜴的生殖隔离机制效率低下。杂种在头部比例上（主成分分析和判别分析）与亲本物种无法区分，但在计数特征上更类似于蜥蜴属。
