The genetic structure and mating system of a recovered Chinese pangolin population (Manis pentadactyla Linnaeus, 1758) as inferred by microsatellite markers

Sun, Nick Ching‐Min; Chang, Shu-Ping; Lin, Jing-Shiun; Tseng, Yu-Wei; Pei, Kurtis Jai-Chyi; Hung, Kuo-Hsiang

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01195

Cited by 12 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Our analyses generally suggested that there was no geographic structuring across the Dahomey Gap, against the expectation that habitat fragmentation leads to genetic isolation [ 73 ]. The same absence of structure was observed in the Chinese pangolin among four populations from mainland China [ 74 ]. One potential explanation to the lack of population structure would involve long-range dispersals.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Can DNA help trace the local trade of pangolins? Conservation genetics of white-bellied pangolins from the Dahomey Gap (West Africa)

et al. 2022

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Background African pangolins are currently experiencing unprecedented levels of harvesting, feeding both local demands and the illegal international trade. So far, the lack of knowledge on the population genetics of African pangolins has hampered any attempts at assessing their demographic status and tracing their trade at the local scale. We conducted a pioneer study on the genetic tracing of the African pangolin trade in the Dahomey Gap (DG). We sequenced and genotyped 189 white-bellied pangolins from 18 forests and 12 wildlife markets using one mitochondrial fragment and 20 microsatellite loci. Results Tree-based assignment procedure showed that the pangolin trade is endemic to the DG region, as it was strictly fed by the the Dahomey Gap lineage (DGL). DGL populations were characterized by low levels of genetic diversity, an overall absence of equilibrium, important inbreeding levels, and lack of geographic structure. We identified a 92–98% decline in DGL effective population size 200–500 ya—concomitant with major political transformations along the ‘Slave Coast’—leading to contemporaneous estimates being inferior to minimum viable population size (< 500). Genetic tracing suggested that wildlife markets from the DG sourced pangolins through the entire DGL range. Our loci provided the necessary power to distinguish among all the genotyped pangolins, tracing the dispatch of a same individual on the markets and within local communities. We developed an approach combining rarefaction analysis of private allele frequencies with cross-validation of observed data that traced five traded pangolins to their forest origin, c. 200–300 km away from the markets. Conclusions Although the genetic toolkit that we designed from traditional markers can prove helpful to trace the illegal trade in pangolins, our tracing ability was limited by the lack of population structure within the DGL. Given the deleterious combination of genetic, demographic, and trade-related factors affecting DGL populations, the conservation status of white-bellied pangolins in the DG should be urgently re-evaluated.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Can DNA help trace the local trade of pangolins? Conservation genetics of white-bellied pangolins from the Dahomey Gap (West Africa)

et al. 2022

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“…One potential explanation to the lack of population structure would involve a fair level of long-range dispersals. Pangolins have been reported to disperse up to 300 km in four months, with a marked period of mobility for unestablished young individuals through –notably– anthropized areas [76, 77] However, the dispersal ecology of pangolins remains poorly known, especially in WBP. The species seems to heavily rely on forest cover and old trees for its nocturnal activities [78], exploring its range up to 1.8 km per night [79].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our 20 microsatellites loci provided the necessary power to confidently distinguish among all the DGL indivuals, and only seven best microsatellite loci were needed to reach the conservative value of probability of identity < 0.01 [87]. The probability that two individuals drawn at random from a population, including or not including siblings, will have the same genotype was low (but higher than in previous studies,[17, 77]). This has important implications for the genetic tracing of the pangolin trade in the Dahomey Gap, as one of the main inputs of the genetic toolkit is its potential for tracing the trade at the individual level [88].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can DNA help trace the local trade of pangolins? A genetic assessment of white-bellied pangolins from the Dahomey Gap (West Africa)

Zanvo

Djagoun

Azihou

et al. 2021

Preprint

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We conducted in the Dahomey Gap (DG) a pioneer study on the genetic tracing of the African pangolin trade. We sequenced and genotyped 189 white-bellied pangolins from 18 forests and 12 wildlife markets using one mitochondrial fragment and 20 microsatellites loci. Tree-based assignment procedure showed the 'endemicity' of the pangolin trade, as strictly fed by the lineage endemic to the DG (DGL). DGL populations were characterized by low levels of genetic diversity, an overall absence of equilibrium, inbreeding depression and lack of geographic structure. We identified a 92-98% decline in DGL effective population size 200-500 ya –concomitant with major political transformations along the 'Slave Coast' – leading to contemporaneous estimates inferior to minimum viable population size. Genetic tracing suggested that wildlife markets from the DG sourced through the entire DGL range. Our loci provided the necessary power to distinguish among all the genotyped pangolins, tracing the dispatch of same individuals on the markets and within local communities. We developed an approach combining rarefaction analysis of private allele frequencies and cross-validation with observed data that could trace five traded pangolins to their forest origin, c. 200-300 km away from the markets. Although the genetic toolkit that we designed from traditional markers can prove helpful to trace the pangolin trade, our tracing ability was limited by the lack of population structure within DGL. Given the deleterious combination of genetic, demographic and trade-related factors affecting DGL populations, the conservation status of white-bellied pangolins in the DG should be urgently re-evaluated.

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“…Pangolins are almost exclusively termite- and ant‐eating species, consuming all life stages of their prey, including eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. An individual pangolin consumes several million prey items each year ( Harrison 1961 , Pietersen et al 2016 , Lee et al 2017 , Sun et al 2020 ). Thus, pangolins provide an essential ecological function in maintaining the balance of ecosystems and biodiversity by regulating the number of ants and termites ( Del Toro et al 2012 , Chao et al 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An increase in pangolin numbers has been documented in many areas throughout Taiwan ( Wu et al 2007 , Sun et al 2019 ). In addition, the genetic structure of M. p. pentadactyla in a local population in eastern Taiwan has been assessed ( Sun et al 2020 ). In this study, we further determined the complete mitogenome of M. p. pentadactyla and constructed a phylogenetic tree of all eight pangolin species in Manidae .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complete mitochondrial genome of Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla (Mammalia: Pholidota), an endemic subspecies of Chinese pangolin: mitogenome characterisation and phylogenetic implications

Sun¹,

Huang²,

Tseng³

et al. 2021

BDJ

Self Cite

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The Chinese pangolin Manis pentadactyla is critically endangered because of over-exploitation and illegal trafficking and includes three subspecies. However, the taxonomic status of the three subspecies of the Chinese pangolin has not been well resolved, which impedes regional conservation and illegal trade traces. In this study, the complete mitogenome sequence of M. p. pentadactyla, an endemic subspecies of the Chinese pangolin in Taiwan, was determined. The complete mitogenome of M. p. pentadactyla is 16,570 base pairs (bp) in length with 13 protein-coding genes (PCG), 23 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNAs and a 1164 bp control region. The overall base composition of the genome showed a slight A + T bias (59.9%), positive AT skew (0.1515) and negative GC skew (-0.3406), which is similar to that of other pangolins. All PCGs started with a typical ATN codon and all tRNAs were typical cloverleaf-shaped secondary structures, except for tRNA-Ser(GCU). Phylogenetic analysis indicated a monophyletic relationship for M. p. pentadactyla and M. p. aurita and was monophyletic for M. p. pentadactyla, but paraphyletic for M. p. aurita. The paraphyly of M. p. aurita resulted from an incomplete lineage sorting. This study enriched the mitogenome database of the Chinese pangolin and the molecular information obtained should be very useful for future research on mitogenome evolution and genetic diversification in M. pentadactyla.

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The genetic structure and mating system of a recovered Chinese pangolin population (Manis pentadactyla Linnaeus, 1758) as inferred by microsatellite markers

Cited by 12 publications

References 38 publications

Can DNA help trace the local trade of pangolins? Conservation genetics of white-bellied pangolins from the Dahomey Gap (West Africa)

Can DNA help trace the local trade of pangolins? Conservation genetics of white-bellied pangolins from the Dahomey Gap (West Africa)

Can DNA help trace the local trade of pangolins? A genetic assessment of white-bellied pangolins from the Dahomey Gap (West Africa)

Complete mitochondrial genome of Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla (Mammalia: Pholidota), an endemic subspecies of Chinese pangolin: mitogenome characterisation and phylogenetic implications

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