PRJNA803958
Mountain- and brown hare genetic polymorphisms to survey local adaptations and conservation status of the heath hare (Lepus timidus sylvaticus, Nilsson 1831)
We provide the first whole genome sequences from three specimens of the mountain hare subspecies the heath hare (Lepus timidus sylvaticus), along with a sample subset of two mountain hares (Lepus timidus timidus) and two brown hares (Lepus europaeus) from Sweden. The heath hare has a unique grey winter pelage as compared to other mountain hares (white) and brown hares (mostly brown), and face regional extinction, likely due to competitive exclusion from the non-native brown hare. Whole genome resequencing from the eight hare specimens were mapped to the Lepus timidus pseudoreference genome and used for detection of 11,363,883 polymorphic nucleotide positions. We show that genomic data can be useful for addressing local adaptations and conservation status of mountain hares and brown hares in Sweden, including unique subspecies.