Genetic Specificity of the Siberian Forest Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus valentinae Flerov, 1932) of the Kuznetsk Alatau

Available names for Rangifer (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervidae) species and subspecies

“…Russian scholars (e.g., Kharzinova et al 2018 ; Mizin et al 2018 ; Rozhkov et al 2020 ; Vasilchenko et al 2020 ) recognise 4–8 subspecies within Russia (Fig. 3 ): those mentioned above plus angustirostris .…”

“…Wild reindeer from Murmansk/Kola Peninsula are forest reindeer, R. t. fennicus , sharing a clade with those from Karelia and Arkhangelsk; these share two haplotypes with domestic reindeer from the same regions, but show only a low incidence of hybridisation, indicating ancient introgression ( Baranova et al 2016 ; Korolev et al 2017 ; Vasilchenko et al 2020 ).…”

“…Its mating system also is similar to that of British Columbia mountain caribou : males guard 3–5 females during rutting season and calving is dispersed in alpine habitats ( Shaposhnikov 1955 , cited by Sobansky 1976 ). It has a unique mitochondrial genome and shows no signs of introgression of domestic reindeer mtDNA ( Vasilchenko et al 2020 ). Its genetic differentiation (using a genome-wide genotyping array to compare single nucleotide polymorphism, SNP, markers) from three populations of putative R. t. sibiricus is F ST = 3.1%–3.5% ( Kharzinova et al 2018 ).…”