Precipitation and vegetation shape patterns of genomic and craniometric variation in the Central African rodent Praomys misonnei

Predicting species capacity to respond to climate change is an essential first step in developing effective conservation strategies. However, conservation prioritization schemes rarely take evolutionary potential into account. Ecotones provide important opportunities for diversifying selection and may thus constitute important reservoirs of standing variation, increasing the capacity for future adaptation. Here we map patterns of environmentally-associated genomic and craniometric variation in the central African rodent Praomys misonnei to identify areas with the greatest turnover in genomic composition. We also project patterns of environmentally-associated genomic variation under future climate change scenarios to determine where populations may be under the greatest pressure to adapt. While precipitation gradients influence both genomic and craniometric variation, craniometric variation is also affected by changes in vegetation structure. Areas of elevated environmentally-associated ...