Authors: K Bernhard von Hagen Gunnar Seidler Erik Welk
Publish Date: 2008/06/03
Volume: 274, Issue: 3-4, Pages: 179-191
Abstract
We have tested whether Scabiosa columbaria s str could have originated by recent homoploid hybrid speciation because it is of intermediate morphology and is distributed in areas under glacial influence Existing morphological and new RAPD data for 11 ingroup populations were analysed using multivariate statistics Most methods indicated that S columbaria s str could be the first example for a homoploid hybrid origin from Central Europe although a rigorous proof was missing partly because of ongoing introgression Sequence variation was absent for 5000 bp from 11 regions supporting a postglacial origin of S columbaria s str An analysis of realized macroclimatic niches using GIS data showed that the niches of S columbaria s str were partly intermediate between its putative parental species rather than extreme as often found in other homoploid hybrids This could be due to geographical preconditions large new habitats were available in postglacial Europe while in the case of most other homoploid hybrids only ecologically challenging habitats were not occupied by parental taxa
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