Multiple Eurasian Origins and Admixture Shaped the Genomic Legacy of the House Mouse Invasion in Africa
Abstract
Commensal mammals offer unique opportunities to study how human-mediated dispersal, admixture, and secondary contact shape genomic variation during range expansion, yet for one of the most successful invasive commensals globally, the western house mouse Mus musculus domesticus, invasion dynamics across Africa remain largely unexplored. Here, we present a largescale population genomic analysis of 380 whole-genome sequences, including 303 newly sequenced low-coverage genomes, of which 216 are from 13 distinct African populations, enabling us to investigate how human-mediated dispersal and secondary contact with native species shape the genomic legacy of a commensal mammal invasion. Ancestry analyses reveal contributions from at least three major Eurasian source lineages contributing to African populations: an Iberian-West Asian lineage present in Morocco, Algeria, and Niger; a Mediterranean lineage represented in Tunisia; and a Northern European lineage dominant in West and Central Africa. Demographic inferences indicate both recent and ancient episodes of divergence and population contraction. In West and Central Africa, divergence times broadly overlap with European maritime expansion and colonial trade. In contrast, North African populations exhibit older coalescent signals, consistent with early participation in the western Mediterranean radiation. We also detect substantial introgression from the native Mus spretus into North African populations in regions of sympatry. Collectively, our results reveal that the African invasion of the house mouse was not a single demographic process but a mosaic of population-specific histories shaped by multiple introductions, shifting connectivity through time, admixture, and interspecific gene flow. These findings reinforce the importance of population-level perspectives in invasion genomics, especially for commensal mammals whose dispersal is closely tied to human movement, and establish the most extensive open genomic resource for wild African house mice.
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BibTeX
@article{martinez2026multiple,
title = {{Multiple Eurasian Origins and Admixture Shaped the Genomic Legacy of the House Mouse Invasion in Africa}},
author = {Daniel Poveda Martinez and Philippe Gauthier and Margaux J. M. Lefebvre and Fanny Degrugillier and Gauthier Dobigny and Jean‐Pierre Quéré and Ambroise Dalecky and Youssoupha Niang and Mamadou Kane and Clark Mbou-Boutambe and Joa Mangombi and Solimane Ag Atteynine and Sylvestre Badou and Madougou Garba and Pierre Caminade and Barthélémy Ngoubangoye and Carole M Smadja and Larson Boundenga and Laurent Granjon and Virginie Rougeron and Franck Prugnolle and Carine Brouat},
journal = {Molecular Ecology},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1111/mec.70507},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05732178v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Multiple Eurasian Origins and Admixture Shaped the Genomic Legacy of the House Mouse Invasion in Africa
AU - Daniel Poveda Martinez
AU - Philippe Gauthier
AU - Margaux J. M. Lefebvre
AU - Fanny Degrugillier
AU - Gauthier Dobigny
AU - Jean‐Pierre Quéré
AU - Ambroise Dalecky
AU - Youssoupha Niang
AU - Mamadou Kane
AU - Clark Mbou-Boutambe
AU - Joa Mangombi
AU - Solimane Ag Atteynine
AU - Sylvestre Badou
AU - Madougou Garba
AU - Pierre Caminade
AU - Barthélémy Ngoubangoye
AU - Carole M Smadja
AU - Larson Boundenga
AU - Laurent Granjon
AU - Virginie Rougeron
AU - Franck Prugnolle
AU - Carine Brouat
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/13
JO - Molecular Ecology
DO - 10.1111/mec.70507
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05732178v1
AB - Commensal mammals offer unique opportunities to study how human-mediated dispersal, admixture, and secondary contact shape genomic variation during range expansion, yet for one of the most successful invasive commensals globally, the western house mouse Mus musculus domesticus, invasion dynamics across Africa remain largely unexplored. Here, we present a largescale population genomic analysis of 380 whole-genome sequences, including 303 newly sequenced low-coverage genomes, of which 216 are from 13 distinct African populations, enabling us to investigate how human-mediated dispersal and secondary contact with native species shape the genomic legacy of a commensal mammal invasion. Ancestry analyses reveal contributions from at least three major Eurasian source lineages contributing to African populations: an Iberian-West Asian lineage present in Morocco, Algeria, and Niger; a Mediterranean lineage represented in Tunisia; and a Northern European lineage dominant in West and Central Africa. Demographic inferences indicate both recent and ancient episodes of divergence and population contraction. In West and Central Africa, divergence times broadly overlap with European maritime expansion and colonial trade. In contrast, North African populations exhibit older coalescent signals, consistent with early participation in the western Mediterranean radiation. We also detect substantial introgression from the native Mus spretus into North African populations in regions of sympatry. Collectively, our results reveal that the African invasion of the house mouse was not a single demographic process but a mosaic of population-specific histories shaped by multiple introductions, shifting connectivity through time, admixture, and interspecific gene flow. These findings reinforce the importance of population-level perspectives in invasion genomics, especially for commensal mammals whose dispersal is closely tied to human movement, and establish the most extensive open genomic resource for wild African house mice.
SN - 0962-1083
SN - 1365-294X
ER -