In this study, we present an announcement of Novaya Zemlya Collared Lemming Dicrostonyx torquatus ungulatus (von Baer, 1841) complete mitogenome. This rodent was described historically as an Arctic Collared Lemming subspecies endemic to Novaya Zemlya (Arctic Russia) but its taxonomic status was unclear due to the lack of available molecular data. Based on a comprehensive mitogenomic phylogeny of the Arctic Collared Lemming, we show that this insular population shares a highly divergent mtDNA sequence (total length 16,341 bp). Hence, it should be considered a valid subspecies of the Arctic Collared Lemming. Our findings support the hypothesis that the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago had served as a cryptic polar refugium for cold-tolerant terrestrial and freshwater taxa since the mid-Pleistocene or even earlier.
Complete mitochondrial genome of an Arctic Collared Lemming subspecies endemic to the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Russia