Detecting late vs. early introgressions during speciation

Abstract

There is a wide interest in estimating parameters of simple demographic models from DNA polymorphism data. Specifically, the isolation-with-migration (IM) model is commonly used in speciation and conservation biology research as it allows one to estimate the split time and level of gene flow between two populations or species. However, enduring debate in evolutionary biology centers around the question of whether the early stages of speciation can occur in the presence of gene flow. To help resolve this question we develop a new method to estimate parameters of extensions of the IM model that use genomic scale data sets more efficiently than available methods.