Fine‐scale population structure within an Eastern Nearctic snake complex (Pituophis melanoleucus)

Abstract

AbstractUnderstanding the processes and mechanisms that promote lineage divergence is a central goal in evolutionary biology. For instance, studies investigating the spatial distribution of genomic variation often highlight biogeographic barriers underpinning geographic isolation or patterns of isolation by environment and isolation by distance that can also lead to lineage divergence. However, the patterns and processes that shape genomic variation and drive lineage divergence may be taxon‐specific, even across closely related taxa co‐occurring within the same biogeographic region. Here, we use molecular data in the form of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) to infer the evolutionary relationships and population genomic structure of the Eastern Pinesnake complex (Pituophis melanoleucus)—a polytypic wide‐ranging species that occupies much of the Eastern Nearctic. In addition to inferring evolutionary relationships, population genomic structure and gene flow, we also test relationships between genomic diversity and putative barriers to dispersal, environmental variation, and geographic distance. We present results that reveal shallow population genomic structure and ongoing gene flow, despite an extensive geographic range that transcends geographic features found to reduce gene flow among many taxa, including other squamate reptiles within the Eastern Nearctic. Further, our results indicate that the observed genomic diversity is spatially distributed as a pattern of isolation by distance and suggest that the current subspecific taxonomy do not adhere to independent lineages, but, rather, show a significant amount of admixture across the entire P. melanoleucus range.