ddRADseq phylogenetic and population diversity study of the Narrow-headed gartersnake species complex and Mexican gartersnake subspecies

We used genome-wide SNP markers to study the population structure and genetic diversity of threatened species of gartersnakes inhabiting the lower Colorado River Basin in the United States: Mogollon Narrow-headed gartersnake (Thamnophis rufipunctatus) and Northern Mexican gartersnake (T. eques megalops). Our specific objectives were to determine how populations inhabiting the lower Colorado River Basin were related to sister species and southern populations along the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico, how genetic variation is partitioned among drainage basins in the lower Colorado River Basin, and to provide estimates of genetic diversity and effective sizes of sampled sites to aide species-specific conservation management of these threatened gartersnakes.