Anthropogenic movement results in hybridisation in impala in southern Africa

Miller, Susan M.; Moeller, Carl-Heinz; Harper, Cindy Kim; Bloomer, Paulette

doi:10.1007/s10592-020-01276-4

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(61 reference statements)

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“…Consistent with this, we found two black-faced individuals carrying common impala mtDNA haplotypes, as was also found in an earlier study (Nersting and Arctander 2001). We therefore conclude that introgression occurred naturally under climatic conditions that brought the two subspecies into contact, rather than as a result of recent translocations of common impala to Namibia, which has been a concern for the genetic integrity of the subspecies (Miller et al 2020;Lorenzen and Siegismund 2004). This introgression might have contributed to the relatively high genetic diversity found in the black-faced impala, despite its recent low population size.…”

Section: A Synthesis Of the Evolutionary Processes Within The Impalasupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Previous studies using mtDNA concluded that the main genetic structure within the common impala is characterised by a separation of southern from eastern populations, and that eastern populations appeared to have a younger origin (Lorenzen, Arctander, and Siegismund 2006; Nersting and Arctander 2001). Microsatellite-based studies initially did not find any sign of hybridization between the common and the black-faced impala (Lorenzen and Siegismund 2004), but a recent study identified several recent hybrids in Etosha National Park and nearby private game reserves (Miller et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extensive population structure highlights an apparent paradox of stasis in the impala (Aepyceros melampus)

Garcia-Erill,

Wang,

Rasmussen

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Impalas are unusual among bovids because they have remained morphologically similar over millions of years - a phenomenon referred to as evolutionary stasis. Over the same period, other bovid lineages in Africa radiated prolifically. Here, we sequenced 119 whole genomes from the two extant subspecies of impala, the common (Aepyceros melampus melampus) and black-faced (A. m. petersi) impala. We investigated the evolutionary forces working within the species to explore how they might be associated with its evolutionary stasis as a taxon. Despite being one of the most abundant bovid species, we found unexpectedly low genetic diversity overall, and a clear phylogeographic signal of spatial expansion from southern to eastern Africa. Contrary to expectations under a scenario of evolutionary stasis, we found pronounced genetic structure between and within the two subspecies with indications of ancient, but not recent, gene flow. Black-faced impala and eastern African common impala populations had more runs of homozygosity than common impala in southern Africa, and, using a proxy for genetic load, we found that natural selection is working less efficiently in these populations compared to the southern African populations. Together with the fossil record, our results are consistent with a fixed-optimum model of evolutionary stasis, in which impalas in the southern African core of the range are able to stay near their evolutionary fitness optimum as a generalist ecotone species, whereas eastern African impalas may struggle to do so due to the effects of genetic drift and reduced adaptation to the local habitat, leading to recurrent local extinction in eastern Africa and re-colonization from the South.

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Section: A Synthesis Of the Evolutionary Processes Within The Impalasupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensive population structure highlights an apparent paradox of stasis in the impala (Aepyceros melampus)

Garcia-Erill,

Wang,

Rasmussen

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…My literature search uncovered 31 papers (out of 59 studies, 53%) that involved the introduction of non‐native species (Figure 2a ). Some of these cases involved intentional movement of organisms, such as the release of game‐farm birds for hunting purposes (Forcina et al, 2020 ), the stocking of fish populations with captive‐bred animals (Beheregaray et al, 2017 ; Bruce et al, 2020 ), or the translocation of large mammals between African game reserves (Grobler et al, 2018 ; Miller et al, 2020 ; van Wyk et al, 2019 ). Other human‐assisted translocations were unintentional, such as the transport of aquatic organisms in ship hulls (Oziolor et al, 2019 ) or plant seeds by cargo or passenger transport, sometimes resulting in cryptic invasions and hybridization events (Morais & Reichard, 2018 ).…”

Section: Mechanisms Of Anthropogenic Hybridizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The genic view of hybridization in the Anthropocene

Ottenburghs

2021

Evolutionary Applications

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“…In the latter decades, the increasing attention to tourism by several African countries led to growing attention to protected areas and, if needed, to the reintroductions of species that became historically extinct in these regions [25,82,83]. Hybridization between distinct taxa is a common result of translocations in South Africa, where several genera such as Connochaetes and Aepyceros are involved [21,84]. The same threat is now spreading elsewhere, a case in point being the managed populations of two Taurotragus species in the same area in Senegal; one being the critically endangered Taurotragus derbianus derbianus whose genetic integrity is potentially threatened by the imported T. oryx oryx-fortunately in this case, no hybrids have yet been detected based on microsatellite markers [73].…”

Section: Translocations and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomy and Translocations of African Mammals: A Plea for a Cautionary Approach

Gippoliti¹,

Robovský

Angelici³

2021

Conservation

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Ecotourism can fuel an important source of financial income for African countries and can therefore help biodiversity policies in the continent. Translocations can be a powerful tool to spread economic benefits among countries and communities; yet, to be positive for biodiversity conservation, they require a basic knowledge of conservation units through appropriate taxonomic research. This is not always the case, as taxonomy was considered an outdated discipline for almost a century, and some plurality in taxonomic approaches is incorrectly considered as a disadvantage for conservation work. As an example, diversity of the genus Giraffa and its recent taxonomic history illustrate the importance of such knowledge for a sound conservation policy that includes translocations. We argue that a fine-grained conservation perspective that prioritizes all remaining populations along the Nile Basin is needed. Translocations are important tools for giraffe diversity conservation, but more discussion is needed, especially for moving new giraffes to regions where the autochthonous taxa/populations are no longer existent. As the current discussion about the giraffe taxonomy is too focused on the number of giraffe species, we argue that the plurality of taxonomic and conservation approaches might be beneficial, i.e., for defining the number of units requiring separate management using a (majority) consensus across different concepts (e.g., MU—management unit, ESU—evolutionary significant unit, and ECU—elemental conservation unit). The taxonomically sensitive translocation policy/strategy would be important for the preservation of current diversity, while also supporting the ecological restoration of some regions within rewilding. A summary table of the main translocation operations of African mammals that have underlying problems is included. Therefore, we call for increased attention toward the taxonomy of African mammals not only as the basis for sound conservation but also as a further opportunity to enlarge the geographic scope of ecotourism in Africa.

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Anthropogenic movement results in hybridisation in impala in southern Africa

Cited by 5 publications

References 48 publications

Extensive population structure highlights an apparent paradox of stasis in the impala (Aepyceros melampus)

Extensive population structure highlights an apparent paradox of stasis in the impala (Aepyceros melampus)

The genic view of hybridization in the Anthropocene

Taxonomy and Translocations of African Mammals: A Plea for a Cautionary Approach

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