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Spatio‐temporal changes have likely caused range fragmentation and population isolation, which could have given rise to the observed current intraspecific differentiation in some species. Here, we test several hypotheses on the potential effect of Pleistocene glacial cycles in the diversification of Arctic shorebird species, comparing between different scenarios of fragmentation of the breeding distribution during glacial and interglacial periods.

Global.

Arctic migratory shorebirds.

We performed species distribution models (SDMs) to explore the changes in the breeding and non‐breeding ranges of 69 species between the last glacial maximum (c. 21,000 years ago) and the present. We also included independent evidence from the fossil record and estimations on the potential extension of the tundra during glacial periods to validate the results from the SDMs. We assigned each …