Phylogeography of the forest dormouse Dryomys nitedula (Gliridae, Rodentia) in Russian Plain and the Caucasus

The genetic variation of the forest dormouse Dryomys nitedula (Pallas, 1779) from isolated populations of Russian Plain and the Caucasus was investigated using cytochrome b gene (cytb). The genetic distance calculated between these populations of forest dormouse was 9.94 %, which corresponds to the typical distance between biological species of mammals. The genetic distance of cytb between Western and Central Caucasus forest dormouse populations is also significant, 6.0 %. Probably, there was a long-term isolation of European and Caucasian areas of D. nitedula during the whole Pleistocene.