engleski

Morphological differences between high and low- altitude populations of two endemic species from Dinaric karst ; Carabus (Eucarabus) catenulatus and Carabus (Eucarabus) parreyssi

Dinaric karst is considered as one of the most biodiverse areas in Europe because of its rich geological history. The great topographic diversity of Dinaric Mountains combined with habitat diversity contributed to the origin of numerous endemic species during and after the last glacial period. In this study, two endemic species of the genus Carabus (Carabus (Eucarabus) catenulatus and Carabus (Eucarabus) parreyssi) were included. The recent phylogenetic analysis confirmed the previously identified sister status of these species based on morphological traits. The aims of this study were: the analysis of the relationship of the measured morphological traits with the changing altitude at which the specimens were sampled, and identification of morphological differences between these morphologically very similar species. This study included 274 specimens of C. catenulatus and 256 specimens of C. parreyssi which were collected in the area of the Risnjak National Park, the Sjeverni Velebit National Park and the Učka Nature Park. Morphological measurements included measuring of 10 morphological features. The analysis of relations between length and width of morphological traits and the change of altitude were conducted by appropriate statistical methods (Kruskal-Wallis analysis and Mann-Whiteny U test). The obtained results showed the decrease in body size with increasing altitude for both species. Specimens of C. parreyssi were generally smaller in all measured traits. This result is in concordance with the reverse Bergman's rule. Additional studies, including a greater range of altitudes and numerically equal populations, could allow detection of overlap zones and the possibility of finding out the ways of speciation in this two closely related species.

endemic species; morphological traits; altitude

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