Whole-genome analysis of Mustela erminea finds that pulsed hybridization impacts evolution at high-latitudes

At high-latitudes, climatic shifts hypothetically initiated episodes of divergence during isolation in glacial refugia, or ice-free regions that enabled terrestrial species persistence. Upon glacial recession, populations subsequently expanded and often contacted other independently diverging populations, resulting in admixture . To understand how recurrent periods of isolation and contact impacted evolution at high latitudes, we investigated introgression in the stoat (Mustela erminea), a Holarctic mammalian carnivore, using whole-genome sequences.