Mitochondrial dna variation and divergence in three Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni) populations

A 12SrRNA mitochondrial fragment was sequenced in 47 Testudo hermanni individuals from three different populations in northeastern Italy, Sicily, and Spain. All these locations fall within the distribution range usually recognized for the Testudo hermanni hermanni subspecies. Seven different sequences were identified, which clearly separate the highly variable northern Italian group from the homogenous individuals in Sicily and Spain. More interestingly, almost all the northern individuals had a DNA sequence identical or very similar to three sequences belonging to individuals from the Balkans and Greece, and morphologically classified as T. h. boettgeri.