IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Barnett, R.; Sinding, M.-H., S.; Vieira, F.G.; Mendoza, M.L.Z.; Bonnet, M.; Araldi, A.; Kienast, I.; Zambarda, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Henschel, P.; Gilbert, M.T.P. | |
| No longer locally extinct? Tracing the origins of a lion (_Panthera leo_) living in Gabon | |
| 2018 Conservation Genetics: 1-8 | |
Lions (_Panthera leo_) are of particular conservation concern due to evidence of recent, widespread population declines in what has hitherto been seen as a common species, robust to anthropogenic disturbance. Here we use non-invasive methods to recover complete mitochondrial genomes from single hair samples collected in the field in order to explore the identity of the Gabonese Plateaux Bat‚k‚ lion. Comparison of the mitogenomes against a comprehensive dataset of African lion sequences that includes relevant geographically proximate lion populations from both contemporary and ancient sources, enabled us to identify the Plateaux Bat‚k‚ lion as a close maternal relative to now extirpated populations found in Gabon and nearby Congo during the twentieth century, and to extant populations of Southern Africa. Our study demonstrates the relevance of ancient DNA methods to field conservation work, and the ability of trace field samples to provide copious genetic information about free-ranging animals. |
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