Conservation prioritisation through genomic reconstruction of demographic histories applied to two endangered suids in the Malay Archipelago

Abstract

Aim:The biodiversity of the Malay Archipelago is the product of the region's rich biogeographical history with periods of island connectivity and isolation during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. Here, the case of two endemic suid species, the Javan (Sus verrucosus) and Bawean (S. blouchi) warty pigs, was used to illustrate how biogeographic processes and recent anthropogenic pressures can shape demographic histories with significant implications for species conservation.Location: Malay Archipelago, with focus on Bawean and Java. Methods:We employed genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms from the Porcine SNP60 v2 BeadChip to assess interspecific genetic differentiation, to estimate divergence times and to perform demographic model selection. Results:In contrast to the hypothesis of recent divergence during the last glacial maximum, S. blouchi was found to have diverged from S. verrucosus at least 166 k years ago following a founder event. The contemporary S. blouchi population was characterised