A research carried out by the Department of Zoology of the National Museum in previous years revealed that there is not only one species of slowworm living within the territory of the Czech Republic, but two rather similar species – the common slowworm (Anguis fragilis) and the Eastern slowworm (Anguis colchica). The first investigation shows that the common slowworm inhabits most of the Czech territory, with the exception of Central and Northeast Moravia where the Eastern slowworm lives. There is a contact zone between the two species in which they interbreed. However, neither the exact character of the distribution of both species in the Czech Republic nor the exact course of the hybrid zone are known. Moreover, the hybrid zone represents a unique area where interactions of both species may be observed, including the results of their crossbreeding in terms of morphology and genetics. Thus, the project objective is to identify phylogenetic relations between slowworms of the Anguis genus, with the help of modern genomic methods, to exactly determine and characterise the hybrid zone between the common slowworm and the Eastern slowworm, to specify the distribution areas of both species within the Czech Republic, to compare the environmental niches of both species, and to find out the relation between the variability in the slowworm genome and the variability of the environment inhabited by them. Last but not least, the results should contribute to the specification of morphological characteristics of both species. In order to achieve both objectives, the project will combine multidisciplinary techniques with the use of three types of genomic data (phylo-, cyto-, and population) and through the modelling of ecological niches with the use of GIS for slowworms. Firstly, a robust phylogenomic tree and cytogenomic characterisation of the species will be compiled enabling us to understand the evolution history of the genus. Secondly, thanks to the study of the genome variability on the population level across the secondary contact zone of the common slowworm and the Eastern slowworm in two geographical regions (Central Europe and northern Balkans), it will be possible to empirically evaluate the degree of introgression and to reveal the strength of the barriers which maintain the divergence between the species in the context of comparison of two geographical regions. Further, an association between the genome variability and the environment variability will be tested, which will reveal loci selectively influenced by environmental factors. This will allow us to test whether the two studied species react to the environmental factors in a similar or different way, and to understand how they interact in contact zones.


Project name: ANGUIOMIKA: Genomic insight into evolution history and contact zones of slowworms (Anguis)
Code: 18-24544S
Duration: 2018–2020
Agency: Czech Science Foundation
Project type: consortial (as the principal investigator)
NM’s investigator: RNDr. Jiří Moravec, CSc.
Other participants: Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the CAS (RNDr. Václav Gvoždík, Ph.D.)


Anticipated results/outputs:
A series of publications in renowned scientific journals bringing results of individual project objectives.
 

Moravec Jiří, RNDr., CSc.

Kurátor sbírky obojživelníků a plazů
E-mail: jiri.moravec@nm.cz
Phone: 224 497 863