Molecular Genetic and Morphological Analyses of the African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus)

Abstract

African wild dog populations have declined precipitously during the last 100 years in eastern Africa. The possible causes of this decline include a reduction in prey abundance and habitat; disease; and loss of genetic variability accompanied by inbreeding depression. We examined the levels of genetic variability and distinctiveness among populations of African wild dogs using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction site and sequence analyses and multivariate analysis of cranial and dental measurements. Our results indicate that the genetic variability of eastern African wild dog populations is comparable to that of southern Africa and similar to levels of variability found in other large canids. Southern and eastern populations of wild dogs show about 1% divergence in mtDNA sequence and form two monophyletic assemblages containing three mtDNA genotypes each. No genotypes are shared between the two regions. With one exception, all wild dogs examined from zoos had southern African genotypes. Morphological analysis supports the distinction of eastern and southern African wild dog populations, and we suggest they should be considered separate subspecies. An eastern African wild dog breeding program should be initiated to ensure preservation of the eastern African form and to slow the loss of genetic variability that, while not yet apparent, will inevitably occur if wild populations continue to decline. Finally, we examined the phylogenetic relationships of wild dogs to other wolf-like canids through analysis of 736 base pairs (bp) of cytochrome b sequence and showed wild dogs to belong to a phylogenetically distinct lineage of the wolf-like canids.

Genome sequence, population history, and pelage genetics of the endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus)

“…Eastern and southern populations of wild dogs are genetically and morphologically distinct [6], although there is a large admixture zone covering Botswana, south-eastern Tanzania, and Zimbabwe [7]. Gene flow occurs across the species’ entire range [8], which is unsurprising given the excellent dispersal capabilities documented in Lycaon pictus [1].…”

A phylogenetic review of the African leaf chameleons: genus Rhampholeon (Chamaeleonidae): the role of vicariance and climate change in speciation

“…These changes have been implicated several times as a source of vicariance driving speciation in the region (Freitag & Robinson 1993;Girman et al 1993;Matthee & Robinson 1997;Arctander et al 1999;Pitra et al 2002). In addition, east Africa is a relatively dry region, and the extant forests are generally small and restricted to uplands high enough to attract orographic rainfall (Spawls et al 2002).…”

Suitability of AFLP markers for the study of Genetic relationships among Korean native dogs.

“…Especially, partial comparisons of mtDNA sequences have been used to investigate the phylogenetic relationships among closely related taxa and populations of the same animal species (Aquadro and Greenberg 1983;Ramharack and Deeley 1987;Ruvulo et al 1993;Brown et al 1993;Janczewski et al 1995). MtDNA sequence comparisons have also been widely utilized in studies concerning the origin and evolution of domestic dogs and wolves (Wayne and Jenks 1991;Girman et al 1993;Vila et al 1997).…”