Martina Podnar

Croatian Natural History Museum · -

The European scorpion Euscorpius borovaglavaensis Tropea, 2015 is a morphologically cryptic species that is distinguishable only with difficulty from E. tergestinus (C. L. Koch, 1837). It is distributed in the middle part of the Dinaric Alps chain and along part of the Eastern Adriatic coast, specifically, in Croatia (Middle Dalmatia, Lika karst up...

Nested within the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot, the Dinaric Karst of the western Balkans is one of the world's most heterogeneous subterranean ecosystems and renowned for its highly diverse and mostly endemic fauna. The evolutionary processes leading to both endemism and diversity remain insufficiently understood, and large-scale analyses on...

Alpiscorpius liburnicus sp. n. is described from Krk Island, Croatia, as the first cave dwelling scorpion species in the genus. Clear differences from the genetically closest epigean species were found in metasomal morphometry. Its delineation is supported phylogenetically based on mitochondrial (COI and 16S rRNA) and nuclear (ITS1) markers. In the...

First systematic research of the composition and distribution of the herpetofauna was conducted in the area of the Plitvice Lakes National Park from April 2015 to October 2017. The project was financed by the Public institution Plitvice Lakes National Park. Altogether 24 amphibian and reptile species were recorded, of which populations of 23 specie...

The hemi-metabolous aquatic order Plecoptera (stoneflies) constitutes an indispensable part of terrestrial and aquatic food webs due to their specific life cycle and habitat requirements. Stoneflies are considered one of the most sensitive groups to environmental changes in freshwater ecosystems and anthropogenic changes have caused range contracti...

An updated distribution of the genus Chersotis Boisduval, 1840 in Croatia, Albania and Bulgaria is presented. A total of seven species have been recorded in Croatia so far, with Chersotis laeta leonhardi (Rebel, 1904) being recorded for the first time during this survey. Chersotis laeta achaiana Thurner, 1967 is reported as new for Albania. The rec...

A new species of the Yellow Sally genus (Isoperla Banks, 1906) is described, based on morphological (males and females adults, larval and egg) and molecular (the barcode region of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI)) features. Popijač’s Yellow Sally, I. popijaci Hlebec & Sivec, sp. nov. inhabits two karstic sources of the Krasulja rivulet...

The systematics and taxonomy of the scorpion family Euscorpiidae are still unresolved, and, within it, the eastern Adriatic scorpiofauna is largely unknown and under-researched. Based on two mitochondrial sequences (COI and 16S rRNA) and one nuclear marker sequence (ITS1), we put 107 newly analyzed samples originating from the Alps, the Eastern Adr...

The Horvath’s rock lizard Iberolacerta horvathi (Méhely, 1904) is an understudied lacertid species, which is geographically isolated from its congeners and currently classified as Near Threatened under IUCN red listing criteria. Due to its limited distribution and narrow environmental preferences, we expect that the species had been affected by pas...

Background: Austropotamobius torrentium is a freshwater crayfish species native to central and south-eastern Europe, with an intricate evolutionary history and the highest genetic diversity recorded in the northern-central Dinarides (NCD). Its populations are facing declines, both in number and size across its entire range. By extanding current kno...

The paper provides the results of DNA barcoding based on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 mitochondrial gene (mtCOI) of 110 Trichoptera specimens collected in 36 springs in the Pannonian-Peripannonian, central mountainous and Mediterranean part of Croatia. We barcoded 70 species from 32 genera and 15 families. The data obtained show interesting f...

In Europe the Phryganeidae family comprises 7 genera and 20 species. In Croatia, 6 species have been recorded from this family, and four of them recorded and collected in the last five years have been DNA barcoded. In terms of faunistic research, most interesting is the record of Trichostegia minor Curtis, 1834 from the region of the Gacka River in...

In this study we present: two species of caddisflies new for Croatian fauna from the family Hydroptilidae (Hydroptila simulans Mosley, Orthotrichia costalis Curtis), first DNA barcoding of caddisfly species in the Krka National Park and a discussion about recorded caddisfly fauna in the Krka NP from this study. From a faunistic point of view severa...

Today DNA barcoding is widely used method and most of the research organizations and national government invest in the DNA barcoding initiative towards the ultimate goal of a DNA barcode reference library of all life on Earth. Year after Hebert proposed segment of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene to be standar...

DNA barcoding of caddisflies has overall wide application in association of previously unknown larval stages with adults (e.g., Ruiter et al. 2013), to support description of new species (e.g. Kučinić et al. 2013; Vitecek et al. 2017) and to perform phylogenetic analyses (Vitecek et al. 2017). Geographically located in the Central and Mediterrane...

Branchiobdellidans are ectosymbiotic annelids primarily associated with freshwater crayfish. Previous studies of branchiobdellidans in Croatia have been focused mainly on the distribution and diversity of the genus Branchiobdella Odier, 1823. The objective of this research was to infer the phylogenetic relationships of branchiobdellidan species liv...

Caddisflies (Trichoptera), together with dragonflies (Odonata), mayflies (Ephemeroptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera) and true flies (Diptera), compose the majority of freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates. Caddyflies are one of the groups of aquatic insects that represent ideal bioindicator models. Since inhabiting freshwater exposed to all types of p...

Two species of the genus Adicella, A. cremisa Malicky, 1972 and A. balcanica Botosaneanu & Novak,1965, were recorded in the summer period of 2014 which represent the first records of these species in Croatia. The former was collected at two relatively distant sites, the Krapina and the Zrmanja rivers, while the later was collected at the Krupa Rive...

The paper brings data about the new findings of the rare Mediterranean caddisfly species Micropterna wageneri in croatia with first data of dnA barcoding for this species. The species is recorded in Konavle region and on the Mt. Biokovo. We also present the diversity of the genus Micropterna in croatia and discuss issues related to the dnA barcodin...

Lisna uš Cinara cedri strana vrsta hrvatske apidofaune, zabilježena je na području Pule (Istra, Hrvatska) na libanonskom cedru ( Cedrus libani). Uz morfološku, provedena je i molekularna identifikacija vrste. Standardizirani fragment mitohondrijskog gena za podjedinicu I citokrom c oksidaze (tzv. DNA barkod regija) korišten je kao molekularni bilje...

The presence of the Grecian anomalous blue, Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) aroaniensis (Brown, 1976) in Croatia has been recently published based on external morphology of collected specimens. The aim of this study was to evaluate the credibility of these findings by using DNA barcoding approach as the species exhibit phenotypic variability and can easi...

The species Tinodes antonioi, a new species in the fauna of Croatia, was determined in northern Istria. The paper provides information about T. antonioi in Croatia (DNA barcode data, period of the finds, localities of the finds, numbers of males and females collected) as well as the biodiversity and distribution of the Tinodes genus in Croatia. A r...

Background and Purpose: In the early 20th century, two native North American poeciliid species Gambusia holbrooki and Gambusia affinis were introduced to Europe as a mosquito control agent. The first introduction to Istria from Italy in 1924 was followed by several independent introductions and massive translocations. Presently, the distribution of...

Background and Purpose: In the early 20th century, two native North American poeciliid species Gambusia holbrooki and Gambusia affinis were introduced to Europe as a mosquito control agent. The first introduction to Istria from Italy in 1924 was followed by several independent introductions and massive translocations. Presently, the distribution of...

The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is the most common cetacean species worldwide and the only marine mammal species resident in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. To gain insight into genetic diversity of bottlenose dolphins at adaptively important loci relevant to conservation, we analysed the polymorphism of major histocompatibility...

The article presents results from a reptile survey conducted between 14 and 16 June 2013 in a mon-tane and subalpine belt of the western part of Dinara Mountain in Croatia. The most interesting result is the southernmost finding of Horvath's Rock lizard (Iberolacerta horvathi). In the survey area we also recorded eight other reptile species: Anguis...

Narrow-clawed crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus Eschscholtz, 1823 species-complex) is one of five European freshwater crayfish species. Even though widely distributed, it hasn’t been frequently studied and its taxonomy and systematics are unresolved. The results of a recent comparative morphometric character study revealed that morphometry of Asian a...

The Balkan Peninsula is a hot spot for European herpetofaunal biodiversity and endemism. The rock climbing lizards Dalmatolacerta oxycephala and Dinarolacerta mosorensis and the ground-dwelling Dalmatian wall lizard Podarcis melisellensis are endemic to the Western Balkans, and their ranges largely overlap. Here, we present a comparative phylogeogr...

1. This study examines phylogeography and phylogeny of the threatened stone crayfish, Austropotamobius torrentium , in order to elucidate the role of the Dinaric Karst geology in shaping the evolutionary history and genetic diversity of aquatic fauna in the western Balkans. Mitochondrial 16S rRNA and COI genes were partially sequenced from 188 and...

Background Patterns of biodiversity in the subterranean realm are typically different from those encountered on the Earth’s surface. The Dinaric karst of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina is a global hotspot of subterranean biodiversity. How this was achieved and why this is so remain largely unresolved despite a long tradition of resear...

Shell morphometrics. The file contains details of the methods and results of morphometric shell measurements.

The PCR primers, reactions and conditions used in this study. The file contains details on the PCR primers, reaction components and cycling conditions used in the study.

Due to Croatia’s geographical position, which is situated at the crossroads of several biogeographical regions, in its small area we find an exceptional wealth of flora and fauna that complements the biological diversity of Europe. Thus, the fauna of amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) in Croatia is of great importance, and stands out particular...

Data on genetics and morphometrics of Myotis alcathoe from Croatia is presented.

Complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes were sequenced from representatives of three lacertid lizards: Podarcis siculus, Podarcis muralis and Phoenicolacerta kulzeri. In all three genomes the arrangement of the 22 tRNAs, the two rRNAs and the 13 protein-coding genes conforms to the common vertebrate arrangement. The phylogenetic position of Lacertidae...

In this work we present critical review of herpetofauna distribution and species richness in Croatia. During 2008./2009. Croatian Herpetological Database was created by the Croatian Herpetological Society and State Institute for Nature Protection. A total of more than 18000 observations were collected, from witch a smaller part correspond to alread...

A b s t r a c t . A new spined loach species Cobitis jadovaensis is described from the Jadova River in Croatia. This species differs from its congeners in the Croatian Adriatic basin with a unique set of characters: a very short dorsal fin base; short anal fin base; narrow head; a single lamina circularis; a single small prominent dark inclined spo...

Using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variations, the phylogenetic position of Croatian populations of spined loaches within the European genus Cobitis was assessed. Spined loaches from the Matica, Neretva, Cetina, Zrmanja, Jadova, Sava, Drava and Kupa Rivers are included in two previously described groups: a) Cobitis sensu stricto group, and b) Adriatic...

Taxonomic analyses of four Sabanejewia balcanica populations from Croatia included morphological (morphometric, meristic, phenotypical) and mitochondrial DNA analyses. Comparative analyses of 24 morphometric characters revealed some differences between populations. The specimens from the Drava River are significantly larger than specimens from othe...

In 2006, two males and one female of Myotis alcathoe were captured by mistnets at two localities in southern Burgenland, Austria. For two individuals the preliminary specific identification based on external measurements was confirmed by sequencing parts of the mitochondrial ND1 gene. Across the sequenced region, the two analysed bats share a 100%...

Two distinct cytochrome b-like sequences were discovered in the genome of Podarcis sicula. One of them represents a nuclear copy of a mitochondrial sequence (numt-sic) differing by 14.3% from the authentic mitochondrial (mt) sequence obtained from the same individual. This numt, however, differs by only 2.7% from the mt sequence found in one popula...

Background and Purpose: Algyroides nigropunctatus is a lacertid species from the western border of the Balkan peninsula. Morphologically, the species is highly uniform throughout its distribution range which extends from notheastern-most Italy to western Greece. Material and Methods: In order to assess the mitochondrial DNA variability of the speci...