Data from: Admixture of eastern and western European red deer lineages as a result of postglacial re-colonisation of the Czech Republic (Central Europe)

Due to a restriction of the distributional range of European red deer
(Cervus elaphus L.) during the Quaternary and subsequent recolonization of
Europe from different refugia, a clear phylogeographical pattern in
genetic structure has been revealed using mitochondrial DNA markers. In
Central Europe, 2 distinct, eastern and western, lineages of European red
deer are present; however, admixture between them has not yet been studied
in detail. We used mitochondrial DNA (control region and cytochrome b
gene) sequences and 22 microsatellite loci from 522 individuals to
investigate the genetic diversity of red deer in what might be expected to
be an intermediate zone. We discovered a high number of unique mtDNA
haplotypes belonging to each lineage and high levels of genetic diversity
(cyt b H = 0.867, D-loop H = 0.914). The same structuring of red deer
populations was also revealed by microsatellite analysis, with results
from both analyses thus suggesting a suture zone between the 2 lineages.
Despite the fact that postglacial recolonization of Central Europe by red
deer occurred more than 10000 years ago, the degree of admixture between
the 2 lineages is relatively small, with only 10.8% admixed individuals
detected. Direct translocations of animals by humans have slightly blurred
the pattern in this region; however, this blurring was more apparent when
using maternally inherited markers than nuclear markers.