Comparative phylogeography of two commensal rat species (Rattus tanezumi and R. norvegicus) in China: Insights from mitochondiral DNA, microsatellite and RADseq

Rattus norvegicus and Rattus tanezumi are dominant species of Chinese house rats, but the colonization and demographic history of two species in China have not been thoroughly explored. Phylogenetic analyses with mitochondrial DNA including 486 individuals from 31 localities revealed that R. norvegicus is widely distributed in China, R. tanezumi is mainly distributed in southern China with currently invading northward; northeast China was the natal region of R. norvegicus, while the spread of R. tanezumi in China most likely started from the southeast coast. A total of 123 individuals from 18 localities were subjected to 2b‐RAD analyses. In the neighbor‐joining tree, individuals of R. tanezumi grouped into geographic‐specific branches, and populations from the southeast coast were ancestral groups, which confirmed the colonization route from the southeast coast to central and western China. However, individuals of R. norvegicus were generally grouped into two clusters instead of geograp...