Evolutionary biology of the genus apodemus kaup, 1829 in israel. Allozymic and biometric analyses with description of a new species: Apodemus hermonensis (rodentia, muridae).

Allozymic and biometric analyses were conducted on 195 specimens belonging to the genus Apodemus from Israel. Genetic variation and differentiation were investigated by means of electrophoretic analysis of 36 gene loci. The electrophoretic results, combined with biometric analysis, indicated the existence of a new Apodemus species, A. hermonensis, for which a formal description is given. The most common species in Israel, after A. mystacinus, is A. flavicollis and not A. sylvaticus, as commonly believed. So far we have found no A. sylvaticus in Israel. A. hermonensis was found on Mount Hermon, at about 2000 m. The body and skull sizes are intermediate between those of A. microps and A. sylvaticus. Genetically, it is very close to A. flavicollis, from which it can be distinguished by one locus (Np) fixed for an allele never found in Israeli populations of A. flavicollis, and another locus which is partially discriminant (Ada). In both A. mystacinus and A. flavicollis, the Israeli populations showed low values of genetic distance in intraspecific comparisons (0.002 < D 0.010). High genetic distance was found between A. mystacinus and A. flavicollis (D = 0.460) and between A. mystacinus and A. hermonensis (D = 0.463). A low mean genetic distance was found between A. flavicollis and A. hermonensis, D = 0.057, suggesting a recent spéciation event in the isolated population found on the heights of Mount Hermon.