New insights on patterns of genetic admixture and phylogeographic history in Iberian high mountain populations of midwife toads.

ABSTRACT: Multiple Quaternary glacial refugia in the Iberian Peninsula, commonly known as "refugia within refugia", allowed diverging populations to come into contact and admix, potentially boosting substantial mito-nuclear discordances. In this study, we employ a comprehensive set of mitochondrial and nuclear markers to shed light onto the drivers of geographical differentiation in Iberian high mountain populations of the midwife toads Alytes obstetricans and A. almogavarii from the Pyrenees, Picos de Europa and Guadarrama Mountains. In the three analysed mountain regions, we detected evidence of extensive mito-nuclear discordances and/or admixture between taxa. Clustering analyses identified three major divergent lineages in the Pyrenees (corresponding to the eastern, central and central-western P

SUBMITTER: Lucati F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9714896 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature