Data from: Bayesian analysis of hybridization and introgression between the endangered european mink (Mustela lutreola) and the polecat (Mustela putorius)

Human-mediated global change will probably increase the rates of natural
hybridization and genetic introgression between closely related species,
and this will have major implications for conservation of the taxa
involved. In this study, we analyse both mitochondrial and nuclear data to
characterize ongoing hybridization and genetic introgression between two
sympatric sister species of mustelids, the endangered European mink
(Mustela lutreola) and the more abundant polecat (M. putorius). A total of
317 European mink, 114 polecats and 15 putative hybrid individuals were
collected from different localities in Europe and genotyped with 13
microsatellite nuclear markers. Recently developed Bayesian methods for
assigning individuals to populations and identifying admixture proportions
were applied to the genetic data. To identify the direction of
hybridization, we additionally sequenced mtDNA and Y chromosomes from 78
individuals and 29 males respectively. We found that both hybridization
and genetic introgression occurred at low levels (3% and 0.9%
respectively) and indicated that hybridization is asymmetric, as only pure
polecat males mate with pure European mink females. Furthermore,
backcrossing and genetic introgression was detected only from female
first-generation (F1) hybrids of European mink to polecats. This latter
result implies that Haldane’s rule may apply. Our results suggest that
hybridization and genetic introgression between the two species should be
considered a rather uncommon event. However, the current low densities of
European mink might be changing this trend.