Distinctive mitogenomic lineages within populations of white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla)

Using whole mitochondrial DNA sequences from 89 white-tailed eagles
(Haliaeetus albicilla) sampled from Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Denmark
and Estonia between 1990-2018, we investigate the mitogenomic variation
within and between countries. We show that there is a substantial
population differentiation between the countries, reflecting similar major
phylogeographic patterns obtained previously for the control region of the
mitochondria, which suggested two main refugia during the last glacial
period of Ice Age. Distinct mitogenomic lineages are observed within
countries which divergence times exceeds the time since last glacial
period of Ice Age ended. The lineages appear to have been maintained by
natural selection. An excess of segregating amino acids in comparison with
number of fixations, as revealed by the neutrality index suggests a load
of deleterious mutations. The maintenance of mtDNA lineages within
countries inflates our estimates of effective national population sizes
and the times of their divergence.