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Abstract:
To get some insight into the genetic structure of populations adapted to different habitats along a transect from inundation forest to non-flooded dryland forest, individuals of Neomachilellus scandens were caught near Manaus, Brazil, and their genetic composition analyzed electrophoretically. Animals from two more distant localities were included. The genetic distance between populations from dryland and inundation forests was as large as that normally found between different species, whereas the genetic distance between populations from similar habitats was no larger than that normally found between populations of a single species, irrespective of geographic distance. There is no or at most very little gene flow between dryland and inundation forest populations. This indicates the presence of two morphologically indistinguishable species, the first restricted to dryland and the second specific for inundation forests.
