Genome sequencing/assembly and genetic diversity of Heterocephalus glaber

Naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) are a species of rodent endemic to
the horn of Africa, notable among mammals for their long lifespans,
resistance to a variety of stresses, and eusocial mating
behavior.  Though their natural species range extends across
large portions of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti, the vast
majority of genetic and genomic analyses focus on Kenyan
specimens.  Here, we constructed a chromosome-scale reference
genome assembly for H.glaber, then leveraged it, along with modern
whole-genome sequencing, to characterize the genetic diversity of
specimens deriving from Kenya, southern Ethiopia, and eastern
Ethiopia.  We found the Kenyan and southern Ethiopian specimens
to be closely related to each other and highly diverged from eastern
Ethiopian specimens.  We also found specimens collected from
nearby locations in southern Ethiopia to be more closely related to Kenyan
specimens than to each other, emphasizing the importance of local
migration barriers to gene flow in wild H.glaber populations.