Spatiotemporal analyses suggest the role of glacial history and the ice-free corridor in shaping American badger population genetic variation.

Recurring glacial cycles through the Quaternary period drastically altered the size and distribution of natural populations of North American flora and fauna. The "southerly refugia model" has been the longstanding framework for testing the effects of glaciation on contemporary genetic patterns; however, insights from ancient DNA have contributed to the reconstruction of more complex histories for some species. The American badger, , provides an interesting species for exploring the genetic legacy of glacial history, having been hypothesized to have postglacially emerged from a single, southerly refugium to recolonize northern latitudes.

Partitioning genetic and species diversity refines our understanding of species-genetic diversity relationships.

Disentangling the origin of species-genetic diversity correlations (SGDCs) is a challenging task that provides insight into the way that neutral and adaptive processes influence diversity at multiple levels. Genetic and species diversity are comprised by components that respond differently to the same ecological processes. Thus, it can be useful to partition species and genetic diversity into their different components to infer the mechanisms behind SGDCs.