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Significance Phylogenies are the basis of many ecological and evolutionary studies. However, zokor phylogeny and speciation patterns are heavily debated. This study disentangled the phylogeny and speciation of zokors genomically.… Click to show full abstract
Significance Phylogenies are the basis of many ecological and evolutionary studies. However, zokor phylogeny and speciation patterns are heavily debated. This study disentangled the phylogeny and speciation of zokors genomically. Six species of the Eospalax were separated into high-altitude E. baileyi and E. smithi and the rest four low-altitude species by recent Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplift 3.6 million y ago. E. rothschildi and E. smithi speciated south of the Qinling–Huaihe Line, where refuges were supplied during glaciation. Introgression and incomplete lineage sorting led to the complex phylogeny of zokors. Genomic islands were formed due to ancient polymorphisms and divergence hitchhiking. This study concluded that climatic, geological, and tectonic events shaped the phylogeny and speciation of zokors in China.
Journal Title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Year Published: 2022
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