Data from: The eastern migratory caribou: the role of genetic introgression in ecotype evolution ...

• Main Authors: Klutsch, Cornelya F. C., Manseau, Micheline, Trim, Vicki, Polfus, Jean, Wilson, Paul J.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2016
• Subjects: species at risk; secondary contact zone; Rangifer; Canada; Hudson; Hudson Bay; caribou; Ice Sheet; Rangifer tarandus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4v0d4; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.4v0d4

Understanding the evolutionary history of contemporary animal groups is essential for conservation and management of endangered species like caribou (Rangifer tarandus). In central Canada, the ranges of two caribou subspecies (barren-ground/woodland caribou) and two woodland caribou ecotypes (boreal/eastern migratory) overlap. Our objectives were to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the eastern migratory ecotype and to assess the potential role of introgression in ecotype evolution. STRUCTURE analyses identified five higher order groups (i.e. three boreal caribou populations, eastern migratory ecotype and barren-ground). The evolutionary history of the eastern migratory ecotype was best explained by an early genetic introgression from barren-ground into a woodland caribou lineage during the Late Pleistocene and subsequent divergence of the eastern migratory ecotype during the Holocene. These results are consistent with the retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet and the colonization of the Hudson Bay ... : microsatellite data for Klutschetal 2015This file contains all microsatellite genotypes used in the article.Klutschetal_2015-01-08.xlsx ...