Hybridization drives genetic erosion in sympatric desert fishes of western North America.

ABSTRACT: Many species have evolved or currently coexist in sympatry due to differential adaptation in a heterogeneous environment. However, anthropogenic habitat modifications can either disrupt reproductive barriers or obscure environmental conditions which underlie fitness gradients. In this study, we evaluated the potential for an anthropogenically-mediated shift in reproductive boundaries that separate two historically sympatric fish species (Gila cypha and G. robusta) endemic to the Colorado River Basin using ddRAD sequencing of 368 individuals. We first examined the integrity of reproductive isolation while in sympatry and allopatry, then characterized hybrid ancestries using genealogical assignment tests. We tested for localized erosion of reproductive isolation by comparing site-wise genomi

SUBMITTER: Chafin TK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6834602 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature