{
  "abstract": "Background\n\nThe Pacific Northwestern region of North America is inhabited by two distinct subspecies of black-tailed deer, Columbian (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) and Sitka (O. h. sitkensis) black-tailed deer, which exhibit a complex evolutionary history shaped by survival in glacial refugia, postglacial expansion, incomplete lineage sorting, and recent introgression. These dynamics make them an ideal system for examining population responses to past climate change. However, limited temporal sampling in previous genetic studies has obscured the timing and mechanisms of postglacial dispersal, and the divergence between the two black-tailed deer subspecies remains unresolved.Results\n\nWe analyze genome-scale data from ancient and modern deer spanning the last 13,500 years to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Sitka black-tailed deer in Southeast Alaska. Fossil and genomic evidence supports a primary postglacial expansion from a southern refugium, with asynchronous deglaciation and fluctuating sea levels along the Pacific Northwest Coast influencing northward colonization. Early Southeast Alaska samples (~ 9.2-8.5 cal kyr B.P.) contain mule deer mitochondrial haplotypes, indicating past contact or incomplete lineage sorting, while later individuals (< 6 cal kyr B.P.) carry Sitka black-tailed deer haplotypes, suggesting lineage turnover following mid-Holocene climatic cooling.Conclusions\n\nOur results reject the hypothesis of a distinct northern refugium for Sitka black-tailed deer and instead support postglacial divergence from a shared black-tailed deer refugium south of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The asynchronous retreat of ice and dynamic sea-level history fostered repeated dispersal pulses, localized isolation, and secondary contact, shaping the present-day genetic and morphological diversity of O. hemionus.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA. flaviodasilvacoelho@trentu.ca.",
    "Biology Department, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada. flaviodasilvacoelho@trentu.ca.",
    "Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.",
    "Department of Earth Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.",
    "Hakai Institute, Heriot Bay, British Columbia, Canada.",
    "Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.",
    "Terrestrial Wildlife Branch, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, AZ, USA.",
    "Blackpowder Consulting, Thorne Bay, AK, USA.",
    "Far Northwestern Institute of Art and Science, Anchorage, AK, USA.",
    "Department of Earth Sciences, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, USA.",
    "Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA. cl243@buffalo.edu."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Flavio Augusto da Silva Coelho"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Crystal M Tomlin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Karlee K Prince"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Duncan McLaren"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Daryl Fedje"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Emily Latch"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "James R Heffelfinger"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "James F Baichtal"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Sandra L Talbot"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Timothy H Heaton"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Charlotte Lindqvist"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8z6z691yzmey3.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1186/s13059-026-04233-5",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13726212",
  "id": "8z6z691yzmey3",
  "issns": [
    "1474-7596",
    "1474-760X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972562",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1311|Genetic diversity and population structure"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7172436421",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13726212?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13726212",
  "pmid": "42972562",
  "published": "2026-08-05",
  "publisher": "BMC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8z6z691yzmey3.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:20:44Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42972562",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972562"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-05T12:22:36Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13726212",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-026-04233-5"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1311|Genetic diversity and population structure",
      "subfield": "genetics-genomics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Ancient genomes of Sitka black-tailed deer show evidence for early postglacial dispersal along the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America.",
  "title_text": "Ancient genomes of Sitka black-tailed deer show evidence for early postglacial dispersal along the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T12:22:13Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8z6z691yzmey3",
  "venue": "Genome biology",
  "versions": []
}