Influenced but not determined by historical events: genetic, demographic and morphological differentiation in Heleobia ascotanensis from the Chilean Altiplano

Abstract

In the present study, we focus on the phylogeographic pattern, demographic history and morphological differentiation of Heleobia ascotanensis, a freshwater gastropod restricted to the Ascotán saltpan in the Chilean Altiplano. The current distribution of the species is limited to twelve isolated or partially isolated springs that were affected by transitions between humid and arid periods during last glaciations. The genetic analysis of 322 specimens showed that H. ascotanensis is subdivided into three genetically divergent populations, with low and moderate degrees of historical gene flow among them and incipient morphological differentiation as a consequence of genetic and geographical isolation. Molecular analyses revealed different demographic histories among populations which seem to respond independently to climatic events, probably due to an environmental imposition and idiosyncratic strategies developed to cope with water availability. The results of this study and co-distributed taxa support the hypothesis that contemporary and historical events have influenced microevolutionary differentiation of these snails, although there is a need to complement further information to predict genetic or morphological divergence at microgeographic scale.