Bulycheva S.V., Markova E.A., Yalkovskaya L.E., Nadirli L.V., Borodin A.V. 2025. Phylogenetic relationships of water voles (Arvicola, Rodentia) of Azerbaijan according to the cytochrome b gene // Russian J. Theriol. Vol.24. No.2. P.108–117 [in English].
Sofia V. Bulycheva [bulycheva_sv@ipae.uran.ru], Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UrB RAS, 8 Marta str., Yekaterinburg 620144, Russia; Evgenia A. Markova [emrk@yandex.ru], Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UrB RAS, 8 Marta str., Yekaterinburg 620144, Russia; Lidia E. Yalkovskaya [lida@ipae.uran.ru], Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UrB RAS, 8 Marta str., Yekaterinburg 620144, Russia; Leyla V. Nadirli [leyla_h-va@list.ru], Institute of Zoology of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 1128 A. Abbaszade St., Baku, AZ1004, Azerbaijan; Aleksander V. Borodin [bor@ipae.uran.ru], Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UrB RAS, 8 Marta str., Yekaterinburg 620144, Russia.
doi: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.24.2.04
ABSTRACT. For the first time, phylogenetic relationships within the genus Arvicola (Lacepede, 1799) have been analyzed for Azerbaijani water voles. Complete cytb gene sequences have been obtained for individuals from two localities of the Kura-Araks Lowland trapped in 1965 and stored in the Institute of Zoology of the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan. Phylogenetic reconstructions have shown that water voles from the territory of Azerbaijan are significantly differentiated from A. amphibius and are clustered together with A. persicus from Iran as two distinct genetic lineages. Earlier, morphological analysis of the dental characteristics of water voles, including individuals from this work, showed a high degree of differentiation of the Azerbaijani water vole from the Eurasian water vole and proximity to A. persicus. The genetic differences between individuals from the Kura-Araks Lowland and the Persian water vole from Iran amount to 6.99%, which corresponds to the level of interspecific distances established for the genus Arvicola according to cytb variability data. The obtained results are consistent with the assumption that A. persicus may represent a group of cryptic species that are morphologically similar but genetically differentiated. To resolve issue concerning taxonomic status of the water voles from Azerbaijan, bearing a distinct mitochondrial lineage, additional material from Western Asia and the analysis of other markers of the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes are needed.
KEY WORDS: Arvicola, phylogeny, Kura-Araks Lowland, mitochondrial DNA, genetic differentiation.