Using the cytochrome b gene (1143 bp), species identification and the phylogenetic analysis of voles of the generic group Microtus from the eastern part of the Greater Caucasus, including the Ismayilli, Khizi, and Balakan Districts of Azerbaijan, have been carried out. Three species, the Major's pine vole (M. majori), the social vole (M. socialis), and the common vole (M. arvalis form obscurus), have been identified, and five new haplotypes have been described for them. Genetic analysis with the inclusion of the new data showed that for each of the species, the physiographic conditions of the Greater Caucasus played a certain role (isolation, migration route or refugium) during the formation of the modern genetic structure. The obtained results indicate that any new data from the Caucasus could be of critical importance for the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of the modern biodiversity both within the region itself and in adjacent territories.
Keywords: Azerbaijan; Greater Caucasus; evolutionary ecology; genetic differentiation; mitochondrial genome; mountain ecosystems; phylogeography; tribe Arvicolini.
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