Late Quaternary loss of genetic diversity in muskox (Ovibos)

Abstract

Background: The modern wildherd of the tundra muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is native only to the New World (northern North America and Greenland), and its genetic diversity is notably low. However, like several other megafaunal mammals, muskoxen enjoyed a holarctic distribution during the late Pleistocene. To investigate whether collapse in range and loss of diversity might be correlated, we collected mitochondrial sequence data (hypervariable region and cytochrome b) from muskox fossil material recovered from localities in northeastern Asia and the Arctic Archipelago of northern North America, dating from late Pleistocene to late Holocene, and compared our results to existing databases for modern muskoxen.

The progressive effect of the individualistic response of species to Quaternary climate change: an analysis of British mammalian faunas

“…The losses of gene pool diversity are only now being revealed by ancient DNA analyses (Barnes et al, 2002;Burger et al, 2004;Shapiro et al, 2004;MacPhee et al, 2005;Orlando et al, 2006;Dalé n et al, 2007;Leonard et al, 2007). They confirm that more extinctions at a population level took place across Quaternary climate cycles than has been formerly been recognised.…”

Novel insights into serodiagnosis and epidemiology of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, a newly recognized pathogen in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus)

“…On Victoria Island, the ongoing decline of muskoxen is concomitant to the apparent emergence or increased occurrence of multiple pathogens and disease syndromes [17][18][19][20]. Given the taxonomic uniqueness of muskoxen, and their limited genetic diversity [21,22], which may influence their resilience to diseases [23], it is important to understand the potential role of infectious diseases in their population dynamics and conservation.…”

Diversity lost: are all Holarctic large mammal species just relict populations?

“…In fact, every study so far that has compared the genetic diversity of Pleistocene populations to their modern counterparts has detected a considerable loss of genetic diversity. For species such as muskox ( Ovibos moschatus ), bison or spotted hyena ( Crocuta crocuta ), for which Eurasian populations disappeared and the species only survived in North America (muskox and bison) and Africa (spotted hyena), this may not come as a complete surprise [ 2 , 8 , 9 ]. However, even if the picture is restricted to areas in which species are continuously present, losses of genetic diversity are obvious, such as for North American wolves and bison as well as for European brown bears.…”