Abstract
The evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) is a conservation-oriented
concept based on the principle of independently-evolving lineages but
introgression may hamper definition of ESUs. Spatial proximity may lead
to high levels of introgression and therefore affect identification of
ESUs in the gecko Tarentola boettgeri within Gran Canaria, Canary
Islands, where it is threatened by the introduced California king snake
(Lampropeltis californiae). We sampled T. boettgeri from
across Gran Canaria, El Hierro and the Selvagens archipelago. A 1.9 Gb
T. boettgeri genome was assembled de novo from PacBio HiFi reads.
Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) provided genomic sequences which were
aligned to this reference genome to provide over 440 thousand SNPs in
134 geckos from 40 sample sites. Admixture analyses supported five
genomic groups within Gran Canaria and two additional groups
corresponding to the Selvagens and El Hierro. Phylogenomic analyses of
both GBS sequences and SNPs revealed patterns consistent with ancient
divergence followed by secondary contact and admixture within Gran
Canaria. Unlike previous mtDNA estimates, our analyses suggest
divergence within Gran Canaria began around the late Pliocene/early
Pleistocene and colonization of the Selvagens and El Hierro occurred
independently from north-western and western Gran Canarian lineages,
respectively, during the Pleistocene. Bayesian multispecies coalescent
analyses of Gran Canarian populations supported bidirectional
introgression among all geographically adjacent lineages. Nonetheless,
predominantly single ancestry populations were identified for all
genomic groups within Gran Canaria despite their spatial proximity. We
argue that these single ancestry metapopulations, and not introgressed
populations, should be recognized as ESUs and be the focus of future
efforts to conserve T. boettgeri biodiversity within Gran
Canaria.