Abstract Continental East Asia has a mild Pleistocene climate and a complex recent
geological history. Phylogeographic studies of animals over the last 30 years have produced …

How innovations such as vision, flight and pregnancy evolve is a central question in
evolutionary biology. Examination of transitional (intermediate) forms of these traits can help …

Aim Viviparity has evolved more times in squamates than in any other vertebrate group;
therefore, squamates offer an excellent model system in which to study the patterns, drivers …

This paper represents an update of the list of Italian amphibians and reptiles published 15
years ago by Razzettiet al.(2006) and of the checklist published in 1993 by the late …

Aim The ecological dimension of evolutionary processes has been scarcely addressed in
phylogeographic studies. We reconstruct the historical biogeography of Western …

The severe climatic changes during the Pleistocene ice ages have shaped the genetic
structure and distribution of biota in Europe. We aimed to reveal in detail the genetic …

In the last few years, DNA barcoding became an established method for species
identification in biodiversity inventories and monitoring studies. Such studies depend on the …

Pleistocene glaciations had significant effects on the distribution and evolution of species
inhabiting the Holarctic region. Phylogeographic studies concerning the entire region are …

Although the description of bioregions dates back to the origin of biogeography, the
processes originating their associated species pools have been seldom studied. Ancient …

Quantifying rarity at the intraspecific level is an important task for conservation biologists
because rare phenotypes have a higher extinction risk than common ones. However …