Cryptic population structure reveals low dispersal in Iberian wolves.

ABSTRACT: Highly mobile mammalian carnivores are expected to have the capability to maintain high levels of gene flow across large geographic scales. Nonetheless, surprising levels of genetic structure have been found in many such populations. We combined genetic and spatial behavioural information from wolves (Canis lupus) in the Iberian Peninsula (Western Europe) during the last two decades to present a particular case of low dispersal levels in a large carnivore population persisting in human-dominated landscapes. We found an exceptionally reticulated pattern of cryptic population structure emerging at two hierarchical levels, in which four or eleven meaningful genetic clusters can be recognized, respectively. These clusters were characterized by moderate-high levels of differentiation (average p

SUBMITTER: Silva P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6147861 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature