Phylogeography and taxonomy of European vipers
European vipers (Genus Vipera) are venomous snakes widespread throughout the Palaearctic regions. Based on mtDNA markers and morphological measurements, we study the phylogeography, taxonomy and ecology of the most widespread species (Vipera berus, V. aspis and V. ammodytes).
Keywords: phylogeography - taxonomy - ecology - genus Vipera
Selected publications
Martinez-Freiria F, Freitas I, Zuffi MAL, Golay P, Ursenbacher S & Velon-Anton G (2020) — Climatic refugia boosted allopatric diversification in Western Mediterranean vipers — Journal of Biogeography 47: 1698–1713
Guiller G, Lourdais O & Ursenbacher S (2017) — Hybridization between a Euro-Siberian (Vipera berus) and a Para-Mediterranean viper (V. aspis) at their contact zone in Western France — Journal of Zoology 302: 138–147
Mebert K, Luiselli L, Cafuta V, Golay P, Dubey S & Ursenbacher S (2017) — A home for three: analyzing ecological correlates of body traits in a triple contact zone of alpine vipers — North-Western Journal of Zoology 13: 251–261
Göçmen B, Mebert K, Karis M, Oguz MA & Ursenbacher S (2017) — A new population and subspecies of the critically endangered Anatolian meadow viper Vipera anatolica Eiselt and Baran, 1970 in eastern Antalya province — Amphibia-Reptilia 38: 289–305
Dubey S, Zwahlen V, Mebert K, Monney J-C, Golay P, Ott T, Durand T, Thiery G, Kaiser L, Geser SN & Ursenbacher S (2015) — Diversifying selection and color-biased dispersal in the asp viper — BMC Evolutionary Biology 15: 99–
Mebert K, Jagar T, Grelj R, Cafuta V, Luiselli L, Ostanek E, Golay P, Dubey S, Golay Joaquim & Ursenbacher S (2015) — The dynamics of coexistence: Habitat sharing vs. segregation patterns among three sympatric montane vipers — Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 116: 364–376
Menegon M, Loader SP, Marsden SJ, Branch WR, Davenport TBR & Ursenbacher S (2014) — The genus Atheris (Serpentes: Viperidae) in East Africa: Phylogeny and the role of rifting and climate in shaping the current pattern of species diversity — Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 79: 12–22
Ursenbacher S, Schweiger S, Tomović L, Crnobrnja-Isailović J, Fumagalli L & Mayer W (2008) — Molecular phylogeography of the nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes): evidence for high genetic diversity and multiple refugia in the Balkan peninsula — Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46: 1116–1128
List of all publications related to this project
previous research project