Data from: Out of Africa: demographic and colonization history of the Algerian mouse (Mus spretus Lataste)

North Africa is now recognized as a major area for the emergence and
dispersal of anatomically modern humans from at least 160 kya. The
Mediterranean Basin is thus particularly suited to study the role of
climate versus human-mediated changes on the evolutionary history of
species. The Algerian mouse (Mus spretus Lataste) is an endemic species
from this basin, with its distribution restricted to North Africa (from
Libya to Morocco), Iberian Peninsula and South of France. A rich
paleontological record of M. spretus exists in North Africa, suggesting
hypotheses concerning colonization pathways, and the demographic and
morphologic history of this species. Here we combined genetic (3
mitochondrial DNA loci and 18 microsatellites) and climatic niche
modelling data to infer the evolutionary history of the Algerian mouse. We
collected 646 new individuals in 51 localities. Our results are consistent
with an anthropogenic translocation of the Algerian mouse from North
Africa to the Iberian Peninsula via Neolithic navigators, probably from
the Tingitane Peninsula. Once arrived in Spain, suitable climatic
conditions would then have favored the dispersion of the Algerian mice to
France. The morphological differentiation observed between Spanish, French
and North African populations could be explained by a founder effect and
possibly local adaptation. This paper helps to better understand the role
of climate versus human-mediated changes on the evolutionary history of
mammal species in the Mediterranean Basin.