What specific mitonuclear mismatch pattern is observed between *N. bryanti* and *N. lepida* in the southern Sierra Nevada?

*N. bryanti* has inherited a mitochondrial genome characteristic of *N. lepida*

A profound evolutionary signature known as mitonuclear mismatch is documented in populations spanning the southern Sierra Nevada and the Tehachapi Mountains involving *N. bryanti* and *N. lepida*. In these areas, *N. bryanti* possesses mitochondrial DNA sequences that are genetically characteristic of *N. lepida*, while maintaining its own nuclear genetic background. This suggests a past hybridization event, likely during a northward expansion of *N. lepida*, where the *N. lepida*-like mitochondria successfully passed into the *N. bryanti* lineage and were subsequently maintained, possibly because the captured mtDNA confers a selective advantage related to thermal performance in that environment.