Abstract
Using whole mitochondrial DNA sequences from 89 white-tailed eagles
(Haliaeetus albicilla) sampled from Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Denmark
and Estonia between 1990-2018, we investigate the mitogenomic variation
within and between countries. We show that there is a substantial
population differentiation between the countries, reflecting similar
major phylogeographic patterns obtained previously for the control
region of the mitochondria, which suggested two main refugia during the
last glacial period of Ice Age. Distinct mitogenomic lineages are
observed within countries which divergence times exceeds the time since
last glacial period of Ice Age ended. The lineages appear to have been
maintained by natural selection. An excess of segregating amino acids in
comparison with number of fixations, as revealed by the neutrality index
suggests a load of deleterious mutations. The maintenance of mtDNA
lineages within countries inflates our estimates of effective national
population sizes and the times of their divergence.