Data from: Understanding the mechanisms of anti-tropical divergence in the seabird White-faced Storm-petrel (Procellariiformes: Pelagodroma marina) using a multi-locus approach

Analytical methods that apply coalescent theory to multilocus data have
improved inferences of demographic parameters that are critical to
understanding population divergence and speciation. In particular, at the
early stages of speciation, it is important to implement models that
accommodate conflicting gene trees, and benefit from the presence of
shared polymorphisms. Here, we employ eleven nuclear loci and the
mitochondrial control region to investigate the phylogeography and
historical demography of the pelagic seabird White-faced Storm-petrel
(Pelagodroma marina) by sampling subspecies across its antitropical
distribution. Groups are all highly differentiated: global mitochondrial
ΦST = 0.89 (P < 0.01) and global nuclear ΦST varies between 0.22
and 0.83 (all P < 0.01). The complete lineage sorting of the
mitochondrial locus between hemispheres is corroborated by approximately
half of the nuclear genealogies, suggesting a long-term antitropical
divergence in isolation. Coalescent-based estimates of demographic
parameters suggest that hemispheric divergence of P. marina occurred
approximately 840 000 ya (95% HPD 582 000–1 170 000), in the absence of
gene flow, and divergence within the Southern Hemisphere occurred 190 000
ya (95% HPD 96 000–600 000), both probably associated with the profound
palaeo-oceanographic changes of the Pleistocene. A fledgling sampled in St
Helena (tropical South Atlantic) suggests recent colonization from the
Northern Hemisphere. Despite the great potential for long-distance
dispersal, P. marina antitropical groups have been evolving as
independent, allopatric lineages, and divergence is probably maintained by
philopatry coupled with asynchronous reproductive phenology and local
adaptation.