Data from: Unexpected population genetic structure of European roe deer in Poland: an invasion of the mtDNA genome from Siberian roe deer

Introgressive hybridization is a widespread evolutionary phenomenon which
may lead to increased allelic variation at selective-neutral loci and to
transfer of fitness-related traits to introgressed lineages. We inferred
the population genetic structure of the European roe deer (Capreolus
capreolus) in Poland from mitochondrial (CR and cyt b) and sex-linked
markers (ZFX, SRY, DBY4 and DBY8). Analyses of CR mtDNA sequences from 452
individuals indicated widespread introgression of Siberian roe deer (C.
pygargus) mtDNA in the European roe deer genome, 2000 km from the current
distribution range of C. pygargus. Introgressed individuals constituted
16.6% of the deer studied. Nearly 75% of them possessed haplotypes
belonging to the group which arose 23 kyr ago and have not been detected
within the natural range of Siberian roe deer, indicating that majority of
present introgression has ancient origin. Unlike the mtDNA results,
sex-specific markers did not show signs of introgression. Species
distribution modelling analyses suggested that C. pygargus could have
extended its range as far west as Central Europe after LGM. The main
hybridization event was probably associated with range expansion of the
most abundant European roe deer lineage from western refugia and took
place in Central Europe after the Younger Dryas (10.8–10.0 ka BP).
Initially introgressed mtDNA variants could have spread out on the wave of
expansion through the mechanism of gene surfing, reaching high frequencies
in European roe deer populations and leading to observed asymmetrical gene
flow. Human-mediated introductions of C. pygargus had minimal effect on
the extent of mtDNA introgression.