bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.23.353045; this version posted October 25, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 Phylogenomic systematics of the spotted skunks (Carnivora, Mephitidae, Spilogale): 2 Additional species diversity and Pleistocene climate change as a major driver of 3 diversification 4 Molly M. McDonough*,†, Adam W. Ferguson*, Robert C. Dowler, Matthew E. Gompper, and 5 Jesús E. Maldonado 6 *-Equally contributing lead authors 7 †-Corresponding Author 8 Molly M. McDonough, Ph.D. 9 Chicago State University 10 Department of Biological Sciences 11 9501 S. King Drive, WSC 290 12 Chicago, IL 60628-1598 13
[email protected] 14 (773) 995-2443 15 16 17 Abstract 18 Four species of spotted skunks (Carnivora, Mephitidae, Spilogale) are currently recognized: 19 Spilogale angustifrons, S. gracilis, S. putorius, and S. pygmaea. Understanding species 20 boundaries within this group is critical for effective conservation given that regional populations 21 or subspecies (e.g., S. p. interrupta) have experienced significant population declines. Further, 22 there may be currently unrecognized diversity within this genus as some taxa (e.g., S. 23 angustifrons) and geographic regions (e.g., Central America) never have been assessed using 24 DNA sequence data. We analyzed species limits and diversification patterns in spotted skunks 25 using multilocus nuclear (ultraconserved elements) and mitochondrial (whole mitogenomes and 26 single gene analysis) data sets from broad geographic sampling representing all currently 27 recognized species and subspecies.