ide SNPs, genetic diversity, and population structure of Yarkand hares expand our understanding from the genetic background of this endemic species and provide valuable insights into its environmental adaptation, allowing for further exploration of your underlying mechanisms. Keywords: Yarkand hare, Specific-length amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq), Genetic differentiation, Genetic diversity, Gene flow, Adaptation, Tarim BasinBackground Identifying the levels of genetic variation within and among species or populations is definitely an critical step in studying the influences of mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift [1]. Toward this end, it is actually usually beneficial to know genetic variation employing population differentiation statistics like the pairwise genetic differentiation estimate (FST) [2]. Population differentiation is a substantial step toward speciation [3], potentially leading to the formation of new species or subspecies. The extent of genetic differentiation is shaped by numerous correlated and interacting aspects, including population and migration sizes, breeding and mating systems, dispersal barriers, gene flow, social behaviors, reproductive strategies, and ecological choice structures [3]; amongst these aspects, gene flow would be the most significant determining issue for genetic structure and differentiation in wild populations [4]. Moreover, environmental components might influence the colonization method, potentially affecting gene flow. Disruptions in dispersal processes, like physical obstacles to migration, IRAK1 Inhibitor Compound exchange of individuals among wildlife populations, and elevated inbreeding within spatially isolated populations can lower gene flow, top to genetic differentiation [5, 6]. To date, analysis investigating the components influencing genetic differentiation and gene flow inside a species has mostly focused on geographical or geological factors–such as the impact of Quaternary glacial fluctuations [7] and habitat fragmentation [10, 11]–combined with anthropogenic activities, resulting in physical barriers that lead to discontinuities inside the distribution of a species [12]. The Yarkand hare species Lepus yarkandensis G ther, 1875 is distributed across marginal oases along the edges of rivers inside the Tarim Basin, southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), northwest China [13]. The Yarkand hare relies on vegetation close to streams that flow down in the melting water of surrounding snowy mountains. Its habitat incorporates poplar forests and brushwood along the river margins, and its distribution is restricted to riverine patches and scattered oases at altitudes among 900 and 1200 m; these oases are physically isolated by the Taklamakan Desert [13, 14]. Kumar et al. [8] recommended that mountain habitats may perhaps also be suitable for Yarkand hare inside the face of ongoing climate-induced variety expansion. Indeed, our field investigations showedthat the Yarkand hare is distributed within the mountain locations of Tashkurgan, Aketu, and Wuqia within the Pamir Plateau southwest from the Tarim Basin. The Yarkand hare shows strong adaptability to the intense aridity, intense solar radiation, and intense heat from the Tarim Basin [15], which underwent desertification 5.3 million years ago (Mya) [16]. Over the past decade, wild populations of this species have drastically declined because of habitat fragmentation and IDH1 Inhibitor supplier deterioration of their distribution location resulting from aggravated human activities, such as regional financial improvement, oil expl