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Dive into the research topics where Elena V. Bužan is active.

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Featured researches published by Elena V. Bužan.


Zoology in The Middle East | 2010

Mitochondrial divergence between three cytotypes of the Anatolian Mole Rat, Nannospalax xanthodon (Nordmann, 1840)

Emine Arslan; Elif Gülbahçe; Hilal Arikoglu; Atilla Arslan; Elena V. Bužan; Boris Kryštufek

Abstract The Blind Mole Rats of Anatolia (Nannospalax xanthodon (Nordmann, 1840)) are characterised by prolific chromosomal diversification. While the geographic distribution of various cytotypes is well documented, opinions on their taxonomic ranking varies amongst authorities. A partial sequence (630 bp) of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene in 13 Blind Mole Rats from the Konya basin, central Anatolia, which represented three distinct cytotypes (2n=40, 58, and 60) yielded nine cyt b haplotypes. Phylogenetic reconstructions recognized three well supported lineages which matched diploid number counts. Genetic divergences between cytotypes were high (K2P between 8.16% ± 1.19 and 11.33% ± 1.42) and application of the 2% divergence rate to the net divergence estimates suggests their divergence about 3.84 and 5.43 Mya (95% confidence interval=1.53–8.19 Mya). If one would rely on genetic operational criteria in species delimitation, there would be little doubt that the three Nannospalax cytotypes analysed in this study belong to distinct allopatric species. Before translating the results into formal taxonomy, more genetic information should be acquired on different Nannospalax cytotypes occupying the eastern Mediterranean.


Journal of Mammalogy | 2012

Cranial divergence among evolutionary lineages of Martino's vole, Dinaromys bogdanovi, a rare Balkan paleoendemic rodent

Boris Kryštufek; Tina Klenovšek; Elena V. Bužan; Anna Loy; Franc Janžekovič

Abstract We examined, in the context of phylogeny, variations in ventral cranial shape in Martinos vole (Dinaromys bogdanovi), a rare rodent endemic to the western Balkans. Our analysis was based on 138 complete adult skulls, which were pooled into 3 phylogeographic groups (Northwestern, Central, and Southeastern). These groups were retrieved in an earlier study based on a 555–base-pair fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, which suggested a stepping-stone pattern of southward expansion followed by allopatry. Ventral skull shape was analyzed with geometric morphometrics using 23 two-dimensional landmarks. The primary shape differences across groups are the sizes of the auditory bulla and the foramen magnum, the length of the incisive foramen, and the width of the rostrum. Consistent geographic trends in shape changes were rare, and size was stable across phylogeographic groups. Morphological relationships among groups closely resemble genetic distances, implying their neutral evolution rate. We suggest that the adaptive zone occupied by Martinos vole imposes narrow limits to its phenotypic variation. Under the strong pressures of stabilizing selection for the normative (intermediate) phenotype, random drift in isolated populations produced only minor deviations in the ventral cranium.


Zoology in The Middle East | 2010

A new subspecies of the Iranian Vole, Microtus irani Thomas, 1921, from Turkey

Boris Kryštufek; Vladimír Vohralík; Jan Zima; Darina Koubínová; Elena V. Bužan

Abstract Microtus irani Thomas, 1921, is known with certainty from two localities which are separated by a gap of almost 2000 km. In this paper we describe a population from Balkusan in Turkey as a new subspecies Microtus irani karamani. In a complete sequence for cytochrome b gene (1140 bp), the new subspecies has unique mutations when compared with a sequence of M. i. irani from the type locality (Shiraz, Iran) at 32 positions, and differs in 35 mutations and a mean nucleotide divergence of 3.19% ±0.50. It has 60 acrocentric chromosomes in the diploid complement. Morphologically, M. i. karamani ssp. n. is smaller than M. i. irani, with a shallower brain-case, shallower rostrum, and shorter bullae. The new subspecies can be reliably separated from social voles occupying Turkey, Iran and adjacent regions of the Near East, by a combination of morphological, chromosomal and molecular data.


Journal of Mammalogy | 2008

Systematics and Biogeography of the Mozambique Thicket Rat, Grammomys cometes, in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Boris Kryštufek; Rod M. Baxter; Werner Haberl; Jan Zima; Elena V. Bužan

Abstract Taxonomy of thicket rats (Grammomys) is highly provisional and the genus is in a critical need of a thorough revision. We compared G. cometes from Eastern Cape Province (n = 150) with G. ibeanus, G. macmillani, and the southern African G. dolichurus, applying analyses of a partial cytochrome-b (Cytb) sequence (375 base pairs), karyotypes, and cranial morphology. Genetically, G. cometes appeared to be very close to G. dolichurus (mean sequence divergence of 3.4% ± 0.8% SE), whereas G. ibeanus and G. macmillani were separated by a mean sequence divergence of 5.4% ± 1.2%. Nucleotide diversity among haplotypes was higher in G. dolichurus (π = 0.0080 ± 0.0010 SD) than in G. cometes (π = 0.0040 ± 0.0009). G. cometes and G. dolichurus showed the same diploid chromosome number (2N = 52) of mostly acrocentric autosomes. None of the karyotypes reported so far for various Grammomys species match the chromosomal sets we found in Eastern Cape Province. Discriminant function analysis on 5 cranial measurements that are not affected by age variation was successful in separating G. cometes and G. ibeanus, but G. dolichurus appeared very similar to the former. In spite of their close genetic and morphological proximity, G. cometes and G. dolichurus tend toward ecological segregation and behave as distinct biological species. G. cometes is endemic to the southern African subregion and the 4 Eastern Cape Province localities are possibly isolates. Specimens were caught in the Afromontane forest above 1,000 m elevation and the lowland riverine forests dominated by Combretum caffra.


Amphibia-reptilia | 2011

Mitochondrial sequences do not support the independent taxonomic position of the extinct Alpine newt subspecies Mesotriton alpestris lacusnigri

Martina Lužnik; Boris Kryštufek; Elena V. Bužan

Mesotriton alpestris lacusnigri is regarded as being an extinct subspecies of the Alpine newt endemic to a small fishless alpine lake called Crno jezero (Black Lake) in the Julian Alps in Slovenia. To re-assess its taxonomic position we sequenced fragments of two mitochondrial genes (309 bp of cytochrome b and 315 bp of 16S rRNA) of two museum specimens collected in 1953. Specimens of the ssp. lacusnigri yielded two new haplotypes which formed a monophyletic group within a cluster of other Slovenian and central European haplotypes of ssp. alpestis. The name lacusnigri is therefore merely a junior synonym of the nominotypical subspecies and should be removed from red data listing. Our study highlights the outstanding value of natural history collections as baselines for contemporary biodiversity assessments.


Biological Journal of The Linnean Society | 2012

Evolutionary history of mole rats (genus Nannospalax) inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence

Boris Kryštufek; E. Ivanitskaya; Atilla Arslan; Emine Arslan; Elena V. Bužan


Biological Journal of The Linnean Society | 2010

A new cytochrome b phylogroup of the common vole (Microtus arvalis) endemic to the Balkans and its implications for the evolutionary history of the species.

Elena V. Bužan; Daniel W. Förster; Jeremy B. Searle; Boris Kryštufek


Biological Journal of The Linnean Society | 2009

Mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence yields new insight into the speciation of social voles in south-west Asia

Boris Kryštufek; Elena V. Bužan; Vladimír Vohralík; Roghaieh Zareie; Beytullah Özkan


Mammal Review | 2014

Bukovina blind mole rat Spalax graecus revisited: phylogenetics, morphology, taxonomy, habitat associations and conservation

Gabriel Chişamera; Elena V. Bužan; Tiberiu Sahlean; Dumitru Murariu; Sara Zupan; Boris Kryštufek


Mammal Review | 2008

Rarity and decline in palaeoendemic Martino's vole Dinaromys bogdanovi

Boris Kryštufek; Elena V. Bužan

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Boris Kryštufek

Slovenian Museum of Natural History

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Jan Zima

Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

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Vladimír Vohralík

Charles University in Prague

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Bojan Lazar

University of Primorska

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Sara Zupan

University of Primorska

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