Palaeogeography and Palaeoecology of Carabus auronitens (Coleoptera) Characterization and localization of glacial refugia in southern France

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Language: English

Substantial aspects of palaeogeography and palaeoecology had already been worked out long before the development of molecular methods of population genetics. This work combines both approaches in a synthesis. The carabid beetle Carabus auronitens (Carabidae) is used as a model. The geographic differentiation within the species was investigated on the basis of tour enzyme-coding gene loci.

There are two centres with a relatively high number of alleles within the populations: one centre is on the southern edge of the French Massif Central, comprising several clearly distinguishable subcentres. These centres of differentiation in southern France were most likely refugial areas during the last glacial period. During the Holocene, Carabus auronitens expanded from these subcentres to central and northern France, and perhaps also to central Europe. A second centre was found in the upper Rhine region (Black Forest), but it is a puzzle as the differential alleles found in this centre were not found in other populations now living along putative immigration routes (southern edge of the French Massif Central, western edge of the W-Alps, eastern and southern edges of the E-Alps).

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