POLYTYPIC SPECIES MUS MUSCULUS IN TRANSCA UCASIA

It has been suggested that the house mouse, Mus musculus, is a polytyp ic species that originated in the northern part of the Indian sub-cont inent. Its subspecies have established secondary contact zones in east -centre China and in western Europe. However the exact colonization ro utes taken by these subtaxa and their regions of primary differentiati on have not yet been identified. We analyzed 89 mice from Transcaucasi a at 35 enzyme loci and for polymorphism of the mitochondrial control region and a deletion of the Y chromosome. The various samples analyze d are a mosaic of populations intermediates between M. m. domesticus a nd M. m. musculus. Trancaucasia appears thus as a broad secondary cont act zone, a fact which reinforces the idea that the species has retain ed large possibilities of remixing.