Mountain- and brown hare genetic polymorphisms to survey local adaptations and conservation status of the heath hare (Lepus timidus sylvaticus, Nilsson 1831).

• Published in: Scientific Data
• Main Authors: Michell, Craig, Pohjoismäki, Jaakko L. O., Spong, Göran, Thulin, Carl-Gustaf
• Other Authors: Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division, Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Box 4700, 23955-6900, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101, Joensuu, Finland, Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Molecular Ecology Group, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogmarksgränd, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7011, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2022
• Subjects: Friberg; Lepus timidus; mountain hare
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10754/685536; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01794-5

We provide the first whole genome sequences from three specimens of the mountain hare subspecies the heath hare (Lepus timidus sylvaticus), along with samples from two mountain hares (Lepus timidus timidus) and two brown hares (Lepus europaeus) from Sweden. The heath hare has a unique grey winter pelage as compared to other mountain hares (white) and brown hares (mostly brown), and face regional extinction, likely due to competitive exclusion from the non-native brown hare. Whole genome resequencing from the seven hare specimens were mapped to the Lepus timidus pseudoreference genome and used for detection of 11,363,883 polymorphic nucleotide positions. The data presented here could be useful for addressing local adaptations and conservation status of mountain hares and brown hares in Sweden, including unique subspecies. C.-G.T. acknowledge financial support from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (project numbers 802-0216-15 and NV-05813-21), and assistance with collection samples from harvested hares from Bo Gunnarsson, Anders Friberg, Martin Hahne and Jonas Malmsten.