Genomic Consequences of and Demographic Response to Pervasive Hybridization Over Time in Climate-Sensitive Pikas.

ABSTRACT: Rare and geographically restricted species may be vulnerable to genetic effects from inbreeding depression in small populations or from genetic swamping through hybridization with common species, but a third possibility is that selective gene flow can restore fitness (genetic rescue). Climate-sensitive pikas (Ochotona spp.) of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QHTP) and its vicinity have been reduced to residual populations through the movement of climatic zones during the Pleistocene and recent anthropogenic disturbance, whereas the plateau pika (O. curzoniae) remains common. Population-level whole-genome sequencing (n = 142) of six closely related species in the subgenus Ochotona revealed several phases of ancient introgression, lineage replacement, and bidirectional introgression. The streng

SUBMITTER: Ge D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9847633 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature