000170166 001__ 170166
000170166 005__ 20260407115448.0
000170166 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1186/s13059-026-03961-y
000170166 0248_ $$2sideral$$a148565
000170166 037__ $$aART-2026-148565
000170166 041__ $$aeng
000170166 100__ $$aBaca, Mateusz
000170166 245__ $$aThe evolutionary history of the field vole species complex revealed by modern and ancient genomes
000170166 260__ $$c2026
000170166 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted
000170166 5203_ $$aBackground
The field vole, an abundant and widespread microtine rodent, is a complex comprised of three cryptic species: the short-tailed field vole (Microtus agrestis) which is present over much of Eurasia, the Mediterranean field vole (Microtus lavernedii) in southern Europe, and the Portuguese field vole (Microtus rozianus) in western Spain and Portugal. Previous research has shown high genomic differentiation of these three lineages. However, the details of the process underlying their divergence remain unknown.
Results
We analyse 70 mitogenomes and 16 nuclear genomes of modern specimens, and 83 mitogenomes and 12 nuclear genomes of ancient specimens spanning the last 75 thousand years (ka). We estimate the divergence of Portuguese from short-tailed and Mediterranean field voles to be ca. 220 ka ago and of the latter two species to be ca. 110 ka ago, earlier than previous estimates involving only modern sequences. The divergence times we obtain match those between major mitochondrial lineages of cold-adapted and steppe rodents in Europe. We find signatures of gene flow within and between field vole lineages, with some analyses suggesting a hybrid origin of the Mediterranean lineage. Ancient specimens from the Italian Peninsula reveal a previously unrecognised lineage that show evidence of genetic exchange with other populations.
Conclusions
The pattern of genetic variation in the field vole species complex demonstrates the impact of stadial-interstadial cycles in generating recurrent episodes of allopatry and connectivity of populations, a situation which could only be revealed by our dense genomic sampling over time.
000170166 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
000170166 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
000170166 700__ $$aBujalska, Barbara
000170166 700__ $$aPopovic, Danijela
000170166 700__ $$aGolubinski, Michal
000170166 700__ $$aAlves, Paulo C.
000170166 700__ $$aBard, Edouard
000170166 700__ $$aBerto, Claudio
000170166 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0001-5125-9651$$aCuenca-Bescós, Gloria$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza
000170166 700__ $$aDalén, Love
000170166 700__ $$aFewlass, Helen
000170166 700__ $$aFadeeva, Tatyana
000170166 700__ $$aHerman, Jeremy
000170166 700__ $$aHorácek, Ivan
000170166 700__ $$aKrajcarz, Magdalena
000170166 700__ $$aLaw, Matthew
000170166 700__ $$aLemanik, Anna
000170166 700__ $$aLópez-García, Juan Manuel
000170166 700__ $$aLuzi, Elisa
000170166 700__ $$aMurelaga, Xabier
000170166 700__ $$aMahmoudi, Ahmad
000170166 700__ $$aPeresani, Marco
000170166 700__ $$aParfitt, Simon
000170166 700__ $$aPauperio, Joana
000170166 700__ $$aPavlova, Svetlana V.
000170166 700__ $$aPazonyi, Piroska
000170166 700__ $$aRodríguez, Iván Rey
000170166 700__ $$aSearle, Jeremy B.
000170166 700__ $$aStojak, Joanna
000170166 700__ $$aStrukova, Tatyana
000170166 700__ $$aWójcik, Jan M.
000170166 700__ $$aNadachowski, Adam
000170166 7102_ $$12000$$2655$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Ciencias de la Tierra$$cÁrea Paleontología
000170166 773__ $$g27, 69 (2026), [27 pp.]$$pGenome Biol.$$tGenome biology$$x1474-7596
000170166 8564_ $$s3924582$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/170166/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada
000170166 8564_ $$s2094247$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/170166/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada
000170166 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:170166$$particulos$$pdriver
000170166 951__ $$a2026-03-26-14:30:53
000170166 980__ $$aARTICLE