Population genomics of free-ranging Great Plains white-tailed and mule deer reflects a long history of interspecific hybridization.

ABSTRACT: Hybridization is a natural process at species-range boundaries that may variably promote the speciation process or break down species barriers but minimally will influence management outcomes of distinct populations. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) have broad and overlapping distributions in North America and a recognized capacity for interspecific hybridization. In response to contemporary environmental change to any of one or multiple still-unknown factors, mule deer range is contracting westward accompanied by a westward expansion of white-tailed deer, leading to increasing interactions, opportunities for gene flow, and associated conservation implications. To quantify genetic diversity, phylogenomic structure, and dynamics of

SUBMITTER: Combe FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8792484 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature