The Bering Land Bridge connecting North America and Eurasia was periodically exposed and inundated by oscillating sea levels during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. This land connection allowed the intermittent dispersal of animals, including humans, between Western Beringia (far northeast Asia) and Eastern Beringia (northwest North America), changing the faunal community composition of both continents. The Pleistocene glacial...

The Bering Land Bridge (BLB) last connected Eurasia and North America during the Late Pleistocene. Although the BLB would have enabled transfers of terrestrial biota in both directions, it also acted as an ecological filter whose permeability varied considerably over time. Here we explore the possible impacts of this ecological corridor on genetic diversity within, and connectivity among, populations of a once wide‐ranging gro...

Aim The Expansion‐Contraction model has been used to explain the responses of species to climatic changes. During periods of unfavourable climatic conditions, species retreat to refugia from where they may later expand. This paper focuses on the palaeoecology of red deer over the past 54 ka across Europe and the Urals, to reveal patterns of change in their range and explore the role of environmental conditions in determining t...

Aim Late Quaternary climate oscillations had major impacts on species distributions and abundances across the northern Holarctic. While many large mammals in this region went extinct towards the end of the Quaternary, some species survived and flourished. Here, we examine population dynamics and range shifts of one of the most widely distributed of these, the moose ( Alces alces ). Location Northern Holarctic. Taxon Moose ( A....

Aim The status of geographical units within species and species complexes is debated for many taxa, with many molecular studies failing to detect phenotypically defined subspecies. The history and longevity of geographical patterns are also generally very poorly understood. We examine Holarctic red deer ( Cervus elaphus and related forms), incorporating ancient DNA to ask whether the present phylogeography has persisted throug...

Recent palaeogenetic studies indicate a highly dynamic history in collared lemmings ( Dicrostonyx spp.), with several demographical changes linked to climatic fluctuations that took place during the last glaciation. At the western range margin of D. torquatus , these changes were characterized by a series of local extinctions and recolonizations. However, it is unclear whether this pattern represents a local phenomenon, possib...

While many species were confined to southern latitudes during the last glaciations, there has lately been mounting evidence that some of the most cold‐tolerant species were actually able to survive close to the ice sheets. The contribution of these higher latitude outposts to the main recolonization thrust remains, however, untested. In the present study, we use the first range‐wide survey of genetic diversity at cytoplasmic m...

Prior to the Holocene, the range of the saiga antelope ( Saiga tatarica ) spanned from France to the Northwest Territories of Canada. Although its distribution subsequently contracted to the steppes of Central Asia, historical records indicate that it remained extremely abundant until the end of the Soviet Union, after which its populations were reduced by over 95%. We have analysed the mitochondrial control region sequence va...