The uncertainty of Late Pleistocene range expansions in the western Mediterranean: a case study of the colonization of southeastern Spain by the spurthighed tortoise, Testudo graeca

Aim Recent biogeographical studies have postulated a North African, Late Pleistocene, origin for some species of the Iberian Peninsula. However, a robust assessment of such range expansions requires high-resolution molecular tools to resolve overlapping biogeographical and cultural processes. Here we aim to determine whether the spur-thighed tortoise, Testudo graeca, arrived in southeastern Spain during historical or prehistoric times, and whether its dispersal to the Iberian Peninsula was human-mediated.