We demonstrate the doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA in the horse mussel, Modiolus modiolus, using cox1 and rrnL gene sequences. The male mitotype is shown to evolve faster than its female counterpart. Standardized p-distances indicate that M. modiolus displays the highest male-to-female conspecific mitotype sequence divergence for any Mytilidae species thus far examined (38%). This therefore establishes a new threshold for the expected genetic divergence of male mytilid mitochondrial genomes.

The first mitogenome of a catenulid was characterized. The gene order found is very divergent from those observed in other Platyhelminthes and, also, in contrast to other Platyhelminthes, the mitochondrial genes of Stenostomum leucops are encoded on both strands. Although the atp8 gene is absent in other Platyhelminthes, a highly divergent putative atp8 gene was found in S. leucops. The anticodons found in trnK can explain the differences in the genetic code between Catenulida and Rhabditophora.

Phylogenetic relationships among four species of Kerkia from five localities in Croatia and one in Slovenia, analyzed with one mitochondrial and three nuclear markers, confirmed their distinctness. There was introgression of the Hauffenia mtDNA from central Slovenia into two Kerkia clades from central and southern Croatia, located 210 and 360 km away, respectively. Secondary loss of isolating mechanisms between phylogenetically distant organisms and the severe lack of information on distribution of these underground taxa may explain this unusual phenomenon.

Our results provide new insights into the phylogeography and origin of Erebia euryale (Esper, 1805). Both mitochondrial and nuclear data reflected a congruent phylogeographic history. The high incidence of unique haplotypes in association with the high variability obtained in the maximum-likelihood analysis of the concatenated data set suggests possible E. euryale re-colonization from south-eastern to northern Europe. The observation that the mean genetic diversity of the Western Carpathian populations indicates either an important refuge area or a contact zone between gene pools during the postglacial re-colonization processes.

In this study, we investigated the taxonomic and genetic composition of the Pelophylax esculentus complex (formed by Pelophylax ridibundus and Pelophylax lessonae and their hybridogenetic hybrid, Pelophylax esculentus) in eastern Hungary. Molecular taxonomic and population genetic analysis indicated the presence of all members of the P. esculentus complex in the studied localities with exclusively diploid hybrid genotypes. Clonal transfer of the P. ridibundus genome in hybridogenetic lineages was indicated at least in two sampling sites with the novel implementation of population genetic approach.

To reveal the genetic structure of Salamandra salamandra within the Carpathian Basin, 25 salamander populations were analysed using one mitochondrial (D-loop) and nine nuclear (microsatellites) markers. Our results evidenced significant structuring on the nuclear level, indicating a different origin for eastern (Carpathian) and western (Alpine) populations, independent evolutionary history for Apuseni Mts. population (belonging to Western Carpathians) and a long-time isolation for the marginal populations of the North Hungarian Mountains dating back to the end of the Last Glacial Maximum.

The taxonomy of the subgenus Nanotriton has been a source of confusion among specialists, particularly in Honduras. Phylogenetic analysis of sympatric samples collected from the northern slope of the Sierra de Omoa was performed, showing that the samples represent both B. nympha and B. rufescens. Field examination found these taxa to be morphologically indistinguishable, rendering in situ identification of the two species in north-western Honduras problematic. The discovery of another divergent lineage of B. rufescens highlights the need for a taxonomic reassessment.

We conducted molecular genetic and morphological analyses on Sinomicrurus japonicus to clarify the evolutionary trajectory of colour patterns and reevaluate subspecific systematics accordingly. The results indicated paraphyly of Sinomicrurus japonicus boettgeri against the other two subspecies, and paraphyly of Sinomicrurus japonicus takarai. Morphological analyses revealed that variations in S. j. boettgeri and S. j. takarai are continuous. From these results, we propose synonymizing S. j. takarai with S. j. boettgeri. Considering the possible evolution of S. j. japonicus through peripheral isolation, we propose to retain the remaining two subspecies.

Cambodia is known to harbour three distinct species of leaf turtles (Cyclemys spp). We examine a recently discovered population from Phnom Kulen National Park using external morphology, 17 microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The turtles morphologically resemble Cyclemys oldhamii, but harbour mitochondrial haplotypes of C. atripons. With respect to microsatellite loci, the turtles are distinct from C. atripons. We propose that this population represents either a natural hybrid swarm or a distinct undescribed species with introgressed mitochondria.