Genomics Reveal Admixture and Unexpected Patterns of Diversity in a Parapatric Pair of Butterflies.

ABSTRACT: We studied the evolutionary relationship of two widely distributed parapatric butterfly species, Melitaea athalia and Melitaea celadussa, using the ddRAD sequencing approach, as well as genital morphology and mtDNA data. M. athalia was retrieved as paraphyletic with respect to M. celadussa. Several cases of mito-nuclear discordance and morpho-genetic mismatch were found in the contact zone. A strongly diverged and marginally sympatric clade of M. athalia from the Balkans was revealed. An in-depth analysis of genomic structure detected high levels of admixture between M. athalia and M. celadussa at the contact zone, though not reaching the Balkan clade. The demographic modelling of populations supported the intermediate genetic make-up of Eur

SUBMITTER: Tahami MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8700966 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature