The evolutionary history of the two karyotypic groups of the common shrew, Sorex araneus, in Poland

Genetic variability within and among two karyotypic groups and five chromosome races of the common shrew (Sorex araneus) in Poland was assayed by sequencing a 1023 bp part of the cytochrome b gene (mtDNA) from 28 individuals. Thirty-four variable positions defined 21 distinct haplotypes with a maximum sequence divergence of 0.88%. No signifi-cant differentiation in the cytochrome b gene between West-ern and Eastern Karyotypic groups was found. Haplotype diversity estimates within the races and groups sampled were high (h = 0.800–0.928), while nucleotide diversity esti-mates were low ( = 0.0034–0.0053). The distribution of pairwise nucleotide differences fits well with expectations o