Comparative phylogeography between the ermine Mustela erminea and the least weasel M. nivalis of Palaearctic and Nearctic regions, based on analysis of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences.

Phylogeography of the ermine Mustela erminea and the least weasel M. nivalis from Palaearctic and Nearctic regions were investigated based on mitochondrial DNA control region sequences. Mustela erminea exhibited a very low level of genetic variation, and geographic structures among populations were unclear. This may indicate that M. erminea recently reoccupied a wide territory in Eurasia following the last glacial retreat. In comparison with M. erminea, genetic variations within and among populations of M. nivalis were much greater. Molecular phylogenetic relationships showed that two lineages of M. nivalis occurred in the Holarctic region: one spread from the Eurasian region to North America, and the other occurred in south-eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. The results suggest either mitochondrial DNA introgression among populations of south-eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, or ancestral polymorphisms remaining in those populations. Contrastive phylogeographic patterns between the two mustelid species could reflect differences of their migration histories in Eurasia after the last glacial age.