ALLOZYME DIFFERENTIATION IN 4 SYMPATRIC SPECIES OF EUROPEAN SHREWS (SORICIDAE, MAMMALIA)

Four species of shrews from the Bialowieza Primeval Forest, eastern Po land, were analyzed electrophoretically: Sorer araneus Linnaeus, 1758, Sorer minutus Linnaeus, 1766, Neomys anomalus Cabrera, 1907, and Neom ys fodiens (Pennant, 1771). Two of the 25 loci studied were monomorphi c for the same allele in all species, nine loci were monomorphic for t he same allele in both Sorer species and an alternate allele was fixed in the two species of Neomys. Only one locus (Pgm-3) was diagnostic w ith a different allele in all species. The mean heterozgosity values i n S. araneus and N. fodiens (0.069 and 0.061) were significantly highe r than those in S. minutus and N. anomalus (0.021 and 0.029). The Nei' s genetic distances were small between the two Neomys species (0.123) and between the two Sorer species (0.330). The highest Nei's distance was found between S. minutus and N. anomalus (2.487). Copyright (C) 19 96 Elsevier Science Ltd.