Regionally divergent drivers of historical diversification in the late Quaternary in a widely distributed generalist species, the common pheasant Phasianus colchicus

Aim: Pleistocene climate and associated environmental changes have influenced phylogeographic patterns of many species. These not only depend on a species’ life history but also vary regionally. Consequently, populations of widespread species that occur in several biomes might display different evolutionary trajectories. We aimed to identify regional drivers of diversification in the common pheasant, a widely distributed ecological generalist. 

Study location: Asia

Taxon: Common pheasant Phasianus colchicus

Methods: Using a comprehensive geographic sampling of 204 individuals from the species’ entire range genotyped at seven nuclear and two mitochondrial loci, we reconstructed spatio-temporal diversification and demographic history of the common pheasant. We applied Bayesian phylogenetic inference to describe phylogeographic structure, generated a species tree, and inferred demographic history within and migration between lineages. Moreover, to establish a taxonomic framework, ...