Mamm. biol. 67 2002) 257±267 Mammalian Biology ã Urban & Fischer Verlag http://www.urbanfischer.de/journals/mammbiol Zeitschrift fu È r Sa È ugetierkunde Original investigation Onallozymeandcyt-bgenecharacteristicsofCretan hedgehogs, Erinaceus concolor nesiotes Bate,1906 By H. SCHASCHL, P. L YMBERAKIS, and F. SUCHENTRUNK Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, Veterinary Medicine University Vienna, Vienna, Austria and Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete, Iraklio, Greece Receipt of Ms. 04. 09. 2001 Acceptance of Ms. 05. 04. 2002 Abstract To infer the phylogenetic position of Cretan hedgehogs, Erinaceus concolor nesiotes, we compared directly allozymic variation at 27 loci and 383 bp-long sequences of the mitochondrial cyt-b gene of eleven and three hedgehogs, respectively, collected at diverse locations in Crete with already published data of western and eastern hedgehogs E. europaeus and E. concolor). Horizontal starch gel electrophoresis revealed 4 alleles at 2 polymorphic loci Gpi, Acy) in Cretan hedgehogs. Indices of allozymic diversity were similar to those of regional samples of E. europaeus and E. concolor from Central Europe. A Wagner dendrogram based on pairwise Rogers distances showed that Cretan hedgehogs clustered clearly with the E. concolor from Central Europe. The cyt-b sequences of the Cretan hedgehogs revealed 3 closely related haplotypes, that were tightly connected to haplotypes of E. concolor from various provenances in the Balkans. In contrast, published haplotypes of E. con- color from Asia Minor and Palestine differed distinctly from the Cretan haplotypes. We conclude that Cretan hedgehogs originate from mainland-Greece or other places in the Balkans. Key words: Erinaceus, hedgehog, allozymes, cyt-b gene, Crete Introduction Cretan hedgehogs, Erinaceus concolor ne- siotes Bate, 1906, conform karyotypically to hedgehogs from mainland-Greece, despite distinct morphological differences Giagia and Ondrias 1980; Giagia-Athanasopou- lou and Markakis 1996; see also Holz and Niethammer 1990 a). They are distinct from hedgehogs from Rhodos E. c. rhodius Fes- ta, 1914) and other islands off the Turkish coast, in terms of morphological and karyo- typic characteristics Giagia and Ondrias 1980; Giagia-Athanasopoulou and Marka- kis 1996; see also Mandahl 1978). Based on morphological analyses, von Wettstein 1941) see also Zimmermann et al. 1953) considered Cretan hedgehogs as a subspe- cies of E. europaeus that has resulted from a merge of a basal ªMediterraneanº gene pool closely related to Italian hedgehogs i. e., E. e. italicus , E. e. consolei) and a more modern gene pool i. e., E. e. roumanicus). Geological data and paleooceanographic inferences of the eastern Mediterranean do not indicate landbridge connections be- tween Crete and mainland-Greece, Asia Minor, or other continental coastal regions within the last 5 million years or so, after the Messinian desiccasion event in the late 1616-5047/02/67/05-257 $15.00/0.