687 ISSN 1022-7954, Russian Journal of Genetics, 2018, Vol. 54, No. 6, pp. 687–697. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2018. High Diversity of mtDNA Haplotypes Confirms Syntopic Occurrence of Two Field Mouse Species Apodemus uralensis and A. witherbyi (Muridae: Apodemus) in Armenia 1 V. Balasanyan a, b , E. Yavruyan a , B. Somerová b , A. Abramjan b , E. Landová b , P. Munclinger b , and D. Frynta b, * a Department of Biology, Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University in Yerevan, Yerevan, 0051 Armenia b Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, 12843 Czech Republic *e-mail: frynta@centrum.cz Received October 22, 2016 Abstract⎯Wood mice of the genus Apodemus belong to the most frequent and epidemiologically important rodents of Europe and adjacent regions. Previous studies showed that in the Middle East region species of this genus exhibit extraordinary morphological similarity precluding their proper determination without applica- tion of molecular characters. In order to determine the species of the studied populations and to obtain an insight into their phylogeographic history, we analyzed their genetic variation. We sequenced 1139 bp frag- ment of the mitochondrial DNA control region and flanking tRNA genes in samples collected from six local- ities. Phylogenetic analyses revealed presence of distinct clades corresponding to species A. uralensis and A. witherbyi. In most localities we confirmed presence of both species which suggests their large sympatric and syntopic occurrence. We recognized an extensive genetic variability, 38 specimens of A. uralensis belong to 32 distinct haplotypes, while 19 specimens of A. witherbyi to 14 haplotypes. We confirmed presence of sev- eral distinct haplotypes that may originate from multiple wood mouse colonization waves from distinct geo- graphic regions. Keywords: Apodemus, Transcaucasus, phylogeography, mitochondrial DNA, D-loop DOI: 10.1134/S1022795418060030 INTRODUCTION The Republic of Armenia is a biogeographically distinctive territory with significantly diverse habitats despite of its small area. It lies between Anatolian and Iranian plateaus and nearly half of its territory is con- sisted by the Lesser Caucasus. Within a relatively lim- ited region, we can find arid subtropical semi-deserts at the very south, alpine landscapes at altitudes of 4000 meters above the sea level, or humid mixed for- ests at the north. The local biodiversity has been sub- stantially influenced by geological processes, ice ages and related climatic changes in the past, therefore var- ious species from Europe, Middle East and Central Asia meet in this region, as well as many others are endemic to local mountains. Numerous mountain ridges and valleys may have played role in dispersal and speciation of fauna by functioning as barriers, migration routes or refugia [1–8]. However, relatively little research has been done on this topic. Due to complexity of the local biodiversity, not only genetic affinities and variation of the Armenian populations of particular species, but also species identity of some populations, has remained obscure up to these days and often much of accessible information on the local fauna is decades old and very obsolete. This applies also to the complex of murid species which we aimed on in our study. Wood mice of the genus Apodemus Kaup, 1929 sensu lato belong to the most widespread rodents of Eurasia [9, 10]. Their abil- ity to inhabit wide spectrum of habitats from semi- deserts and steppes to woodlands allows these animals to be present in relatively high densities across the landscapes. This predetermines these mice to become valuable component of mammalian communities and food webs and consequently also agricultural and for- estry pests and transmitters of diseases (zoonoses). In the Western Palearctics, the wood-mouse species of the genus Apodemus (except for A. agrarius, A. epimelas and A. mystacinus) form a monophyletic group of spe- cies which are closely related and morphologically similar to each other [9, 11–17]. Over the past few decades there has been significant number of research on the evaluation of genetic and morphological crite- ria enabling identification of traditionally recognized European species, i.e., A. sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758), A. flavicollis (Melchior, 1834), and A. microps (Krato- 1 The article is published in the original. ANIMAL GENETICS