George P. Mitsainas

University of Patras | UP · Department of Biology

The little owl ( Athene noctua ) is a common raptor in Mediterranean habitats. To acquire more information on its diet, this study identified cranial and post-cranial skeletal material from 70 owl pellets collected during the 2016 and 2017 breeding seasons. The material was used to quantify the little owl’s relative prey abundance using MNI (minimu...

There has been little research on the distribution and ecology of the four dormouse species occurring in Greece; the Edible Dormouse ( Glis glis ), Forest Dormouse ( Dryomys nitedula ), Hazel dormouse ( Muscardinus avellanarius ) and Mouse-tailed Dormouse ( Myomimus roachi ). As a result, the latter three species are listed as data deficient (DD) i...

Seasonal study of Chiroptera in the drainage tunnels of Panagopoula, Achaia. Roost counts are a relatively easy and reliable way to estimate and monitor the size of bat populations, as well as make other important observations. In this announcement we present the results of a series of surveys carried out in 2019 and 2020 in two drainage tunnels i...

Spiny mice of the Acomys cahirinus group display a complex geographical structure in the Eastern Mediterranean area, as shown by previous genetic and chromosomal studies. To better elucidate the evolutionary relationships between insular populations from Crete and Cyprus and continental populations from North Africa and Cilicia in Turkey, genetic a...

This poster describes the interactions of two Robertsonian races (GRKA & GROL), which are characterized by monobrachial homology, along the northern part of the Rb system of Peloponnese, Greece.

The undigested remains (pellets) of the Barn Owl Tyto alba (order Strigiformes) were analysed, in order to investigate the dietary habits of the species in different ecosystems and, indirectly, to record the biodiversity of small mammals in the under-study areas. An adequate number of pellets were collected from Argirokastro, west of the Pindos mou...

The study of owl pellets is the simplest method for zoologists who want to study the feeding preferences and preying habits of these predators. However, questions arise, concerning the methodology applied in such studies, since researchers worldwide seem to focus solely on cranial and teeth morphology for the identification and quantification of th...

This poster is about the collection of natural hybrids between two Robertsonian races (GRKA and GROL) with monobrachial homology in NW Rb system of Peloponnese in Greece for the first time!

Aim The distribution of the western house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) around the world has been strongly influenced by the movement of humans. The close association between the house mouse and human phylogeography has been primarily studied in the peripheral distribution of the species. Here, we inferred the complex colonization history of Cypr...

Abstract: In the present work, a pellet study of an Athene noctua (Scopoli, 1769) couple from Platanovrisi, Achaia, was conducted, in order to look into the feeding habits of a raptor species that had not been studied, so far, in Peloponnese. A total of 70 pellets were collected over two consecutive years (35 in the spring of 2016 and 35 in the spr...

A selective sweep is the result of strong positive selection driving newly occurring or standing genetic variants to fixation, and can dramatically alter the pattern and distribution of allelic diversity in a population. Population-level sequencing data have enabled discoveries of selective sweeps associated with genes involved in recent adaptation...

A selective sweep is the result of strong positive selection rapidly driving newly occurring or standing genetic variants to fixation, and can dramatically alter the pattern and distribution of allelic diversity in a population or species. Population-level sequencing data have enabled discoveries of selective sweeps associated with genes involved i...

Mammalian karyotypes (number and structure of chromosomes) can vary dramatically over short evolutionary time frames [1-3]. There are examples of massive karyotype conversion, from mostly telocentric (centromere terminal) to mostly metacentric (centromere internal), in 10(2)-10(5) years [4, 5]. These changes typically reflect rapid fixation of Robe...

The karyotype of the Cretan spiny mouse Acomys minous was examined with chromosome banding techniques in 53 individuals from 12 localities of Crete, aiming to gain a more detailed knowledge on the chromosomal constitution and variability of its natural populations. We found that it consists of three Robertsonian (Rb) populations with 2n=38, 2n=40 a...

In order to better define the geographical distribution of the underground vole Microtus thomasi and the chromosomal variability, within its natural populations, we studied 77 individuals from 14 localities of Albania and Montenegro. Chromosomal preparations were obtained from bone marrow and testicular material, on which a karyological analysis, b...

In a sample of 108 underground voles from 23 Greek localities, the species Microtus felteni, M. guentheri, M. rossiaemeridionalis and M. subterraneus were identified, based on external body morphology and karyotype. Moreover, the implemented C-banding staining technique revealed the heterochromatin distribution in the chromosomes of the above speci...

Despite extensive zoogeographical and taxonomical studies in the subgenus Mus, several issues still remain unresolved. In this context, the distribution area of the mound-building mouse, Mus spicilegus, remains undetermined at the southernmost parts of the species’ range, possibly due to low population densities and seasonal character of mound buil...

The evolution of the Robertsonian (Rb) system of the house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) located in Peloponnisos (Greece) is examined, under the possibility of whole arm reciprocal translocation (WART) involvement in the formation process of two of its Rb races with 2n=24 and 2n=28, respectively, characterized by monobrachial homology. Our contri...

The underground vole Microtus thomasi, a Balkan endemic, displays remarkable variability in sex chromosome size and morphology. In the present study, we demonstrate this variability in two of its chromosomal races with 2n = 44 (i.e. ‘thomasi’ and ‘atticus’) with the use of C-banding on a sample of 189 individuals from 50 localities of Greece. In ‘t...

The quantitative variation of a conserved region of the LINE-1 ORF2 sequence was determined in eight species and subspecies of the subgenus Mus (M. m. domesticus, M. m. musculus, M. m. castaneus, M. spicilegus, M. spretus, M. cervicolor, M. cookii, M. caroli) and five Robertsonian races of M. m. domesticus. No differences in LINE-1 ORF2 content wer...

Several karyotypic forms have been previously described in populations of the vole species Microtus thomasi from Greece. In particular, the karyomorphs Microtus thomasi 'thomasi' and 'atticus' differ in X chromosome morphology, being acrocentric and subtelocentric, respectively. Furthermore, remarkable heterochromatin content variability has been d...

The natural populations of the house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, of the Euro-Mediterranean region have been under extensive scrutiny for several years, thanks to an extensive Robertsonian chromosomal variation. However, this subspecies is also known for the occasional appearance of Homogenously Staining Regions (HSRs) in chromosome 1 of the kar...

As part of an extensive cytological study in natural populations of Thomas' pine vole Microtus thomasi, two cases of XXY aneuploidy (2n=45, FN=47) from different localities of NW Peloponnesus, Greece were recently recorded. These constitute the first report of sex chromosome aneuploidy for this species, in a sample of 366 individuals from 89 locali...

During this study, 94 specimens (51 males, 43 females) of the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758), the yellow-necked mouse A. flavicollis (Melchior, 1834) and the western broad-toothed mouse A. epimelas (Nehring, 1902) from 20 localities of Greece were karyologically examined. The first two species were found to be widely distributed an...

G.: PhytoKaryon: a karyological database of European and Mediterranean plants. ─ Flora Mediterranea 18: 109-116. 2008. ─ ISSN 1120-4060. The remarkable plant diversity that characterizes the Euro-Mediterranean region has been for long the focus of intense scientific interest. Since the data produced daily accumulate at tremen-dous rates, there emer...

The results of a karyological study on the dormice Myoxus glis (2n=62) and Dryomys nitedula (2n=48), the ground squirrel Spermophilus citellus (2n=40) and the red bank vole Myodes glareolus (2n=56) from Greece are presented. Apart from the clarification of their diploid chromosome number, a more elaborate study of their karyotype was conducted and...

The karyotype of the house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, was examined in 282 specimens from 44 localities, in an effort to gain better understanding of the Robertsonian (Rb) variation known to exist in Greece. We consider that an Rb system exists in Peloponnisos, southern Greece, distributed in an area that is substantially larger than previously...