Intraspecific phylogeography of the white-rumped snowfinch (Onychostruthus taczanowskii) endemic to the Tibetan Plateau based on mtDNA sequences

Variation of the mitochondrial control region segment was analyzed from white‐rumped snowfinch Onychostruthus taczanowskii through its Tibetan Plateau distribution range. Very low genetic diversity (0.117%) and no differentiation were found between geographic groups. This may be because of a combination of several ecological and historical factors, including lack of geographical barriers and a relatively homogenic habitat through the plateau, high gene flow and a relatively fast population expansion from a very small population size. The genetic diversity of its closely related codistributed species, the red‐necked snowfinch Pyrgilauda ruficollis, was much higher, possibly as a result of expansion from different population size and glacial refugia.