Which geographical feature is identified as a persistent barrier causing deep divergence within *N. fuscipes*?
Answer
The San Francisco Bay-Delta region
Genome-wide data analyzing *Neotoma fuscipes* reveals a profound internal divergence dating back approximately 1.7 million years ago. This specific evolutionary separation is geographically partitioned across the San Francisco Bay-Delta region, indicating that this area has functioned as a continuous and significant topographical barrier, preventing gene flow between northern and southern nuclear groups within this single woodrat species.
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