The unique genetic adaptation of the Himalayan wolf to high-altitudes and consequences for conservation

Werhahn, Geraldine; Senn, Helen; Ghazālī, Muḥammad; Karmacharya, Dibesh; Sherchan, Adarsh M.; Joshi, Jyoti; Kusi, Naresh; López‐Bao, José V.; Rosen, Tanya; Kachel, Shannon; Sillero‐Zubiri, Claudio; Macdonald, David W.

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00455

Cited by 37 publications

(72 citation statements)

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“…Mitochondrial sequences place this split between 0.55-0.8 Ma (Matsumura, Inoshima, & Ishiguro, 2014;Sharma et al, 2004;Werhahn et al, 2018), prior to the radiation of modern grey wolves estimated at 0.5-0.3 Ma (Sotnikova & Rook, 2010;Tedford, Wang, & Taylor, 2009).…”

Section: Estimates Of Divergence Dates Between Himalayan and Othermentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The Himalayan wolf (also called the Tibetan wolf) has been shown to comprise a genetically distinctive lineage from the Holarctic grey wolves (Aggarwal, Kivisild, Ramadevi, & Singh, 2007;Sharma, Maldonado, Jhala, & Fleischer, 2004;Werhahn et al, 2018;Werhahn, Senn, et al, 2017). In mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, Himalayan wolves constitute a monophyletic clade that is sister to the Holarctic grey wolf subspecies (Aggarwal et al, 2007;Koepfli et al, 2015;Sharma et al, 2004;Werhahn et al, 2018), whereas nuclear genome analysis (Fan et al, 2016) indicates that they form a clade within the Holarctic grey wolf complex. Himalayan wolves exhibit zinc finger (ZF) protein gene haplotypes on both sex chromosomes that differ from those found in Holarctic grey wolves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Himalayan wolves exhibit zinc finger (ZF) protein gene haplotypes on both sex chromosomes that differ from those found in Holarctic grey wolves. Specifically, the ZF protein gene haplotype on the Himalayan X chromosome is shared with the African wolf, recently posited as Canis lupaster (Álvares et al, 2019;Viranta, Atickem, Werdelin, & Stenseth, 2017), while the ZF haplotype on the Himalayan Y chromosome is unique among wolf lineages (Werhahn et al, 2018;Werhahn, Senn, et al, 2017). The Himalayan lineage exhibits mutations on four non-synonymous SNPs in three functional nuclear genes related to the hypoxia pathway (vonHoldt, Fan, Vecchyo, & Wayne, 2017;Werhahn et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2014), which are likely to affect high-altitude adaptation, that is, the evolution of physiological mechanisms to cope with lifelong hypoxic conditions in high-altitude habitats (Storz, Scott, & Cheviron, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Himalayan wolf distribution and admixture based on multiple genetic markers

Werhahn

Liu

Yao

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. AbstractAim: We explore the phylogeography of Himalayan wolves using multiple genetic markers applied on a landscape-scale dataset and relate our findings to the biogeographic history of the region. Location: Himalayas of Nepal, the Tibetan Plateau of China and mountain ranges of Central Asia. Taxon: Himalayan wolf (also called the Tibetan wolf), Canis lupus chanco. Methods: We present a large-scale, non-invasive study of Himalayan wolves from across their estimated range. We analysed 280 wolf scat samples from western China, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at two mtDNA loci, 17 microsatellite loci, four nonsynonymous SNPs in three nuclear genes related to the hypoxia pathway, and ZF genes on both sex chromosomes. | 1273 WERHAHN Et Al.

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Section: Estimates Of Divergence Dates Between Himalayan and Othermentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Himalayan wolf distribution and admixture based on multiple genetic markers

Werhahn

Liu

Yao

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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“…The Himalayan wolf (currently recommended as Canis lupus chanco by Álvares et al, ; also see Werhahn et al, , Werhahn et al, ) and snow leopard are top carnivores coexisting in the Himalayas and the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau (QTP) of Asia. As top carnivores, they regulate ecosystem health and processes through trophic interactions with mesopredators, herbivores and the vegetation, facilitating biodiversity and ecosystem resilience (Ripple et al, ), and may contribute to nutrient cycling by supporting scavenger diversity (Wilmers, Crabtree, Smith, Murphy, & Getz, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives of traditional Himalayan communities on fostering coexistence with Himalayan wolf and snow leopard

Kusi

Sillero‐Zubiri

Macdonald

et al. 2019

Conservat Sci and Prac

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The Himalayan wolf Canis sp. and snow leopard Panthera uncia are found in the Nepalese Himalayas where conservation efforts target the latter but not the former. We conducted semistructured questionnaire surveys of 71 residents in upper Humla, upper Dolpa, and Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) during 2014–2016 to understand people's knowledge, perceptions, attitudes and interactions with these two carnivores. We fitted a cumulative link mixed model to predict Likert scale ordinal responses from a series of Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Overall, attitudes were more positive toward snow leopards than wolves. Livestock depredation was the main predictor of the general negative attitude toward wolves (Estimate = −1.30873; p = .029866) but there was no evidence for an effect for snow leopards (Estimate = −0.3640; p = .631446). Agropastoralists had more negative attitudes than respondents with other occupations toward both carnivores and men had more positive attitudes than women. Among our study areas, respondents in the community‐owned KCA had the most positive attitudes. Our findings illustrate the need to reduce human–carnivore conflict through a combined approach of education, mitigation, and economic cost‐sharing with respectful engagement of local communities. Specifically, to encourage more villagers to participate in livestock insurance schemes, they should be improved by including all large carnivores and adjusting compensation to the market value of a young replacement of the depredated livestock type. Carnivore conservation interventions should target the whole predator guild to achieve long‐term success and to protect the Himalayan ecosystem at large.

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“…Such extremes in diets are reflected in their dentition, because while most canids have 42 teeth well-suited for generalist diets (e.g., carnassials for shearing flesh and molars for omnivory), bat-eared foxes have up to 50 less-specialized teeth (the most of any land mammal) for extreme insectivory (Klare et al, 2011), whereas the dholes, bush dogs, and African wild dogs have reduced or absent molars and enhanced carnassials for hypercarnivory (Van Valkenburgh, 1991). Canids are found in nearly all terrestrial habitats, including such extremes as Arctic tundra (Arctic fox [Vulpes lagopus]), desert (fennec fox), tropical forest (dhole [Cuon alpinus]), high-altitude environments (e.g., Ethiopian wolf, Marino, 2003; Himalayan wolf [C. [lupus] himalayensis], Werhahn et al, 2017Werhahn et al, , 2018 and human cities (e.g., coyote [C. latrans]). Some even partially exploit aquatic (e.g., short-eared dog [Atelocynus microtis], de Oliveira, 2009; British Columbia coastal wolf, Darimont and Paquet, 2002;Stronen et al, 2012) and arboreal (e.g., gray fox [Urocyon cinereoargenteus], Trapp and Hallberg, 1975) habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monogamy: Cause, Consequence, or Corollary of Success in Wild Canids?

et al. 2019

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The Canidae are successful, being a widespread, abundant, speciose, and adaptable family. Several canids in particular have recently experienced rapid expansions in range and abundance, with similar situations mirrored on several continents by different species. Despite extreme behavioral diversity between and within species, monogamy is a common denominator in canid societies. In this review, we ask why canids are monogamous and how monogamy is related to their success. We begin with an overview of canid social monogamy, describing the pair bonding, paternal care, and often alloparental care that is characteristic of the family, and discuss theories on the evolution of mammalian social monogamy. We discuss why and how monogamy is maintained in canids, either voluntarily or enforced, and how ecological conditions influence either the functional advantages of monogamy or ability for enforcement and thus whether social monogamy is maintained. Social monogamy does not necessitate exclusive mating and many canids exhibit extra-pair paternity. We consider the costs and benefits of extra-pair mating for male and female canids and how ecological conditions can shift this cost/benefit balance and thus affect its prevalence. Monogamy may be responsible for many of the unusual canid reproductive characteristics through facilitating alloparental care and monogamy enforcement, and the domestic dogs' departure from monogamy supports our interpretation that it is an adaptation to resource availability. In asking whether monogamy is responsible, at least in part, for their success, we propose the monogamy as pro-cooperative hypothesis, suggesting four characteristics have contributed to canid success: (1) ecological flexibility, (2) high mobility, (3) high reproductive rates, and (4) sociality/cooperation, with the latter two being consequences of monogamy. These four interconnected traits enhance one another and it is their combination, with monogamy at its foundation enabling cooperative sociality and thereby enhanced reproduction and survival, that together comprise the formula of canid success.

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The unique genetic adaptation of the Himalayan wolf to high-altitudes and consequences for conservation

Cited by 37 publications

References 54 publications

Himalayan wolf distribution and admixture based on multiple genetic markers

Himalayan wolf distribution and admixture based on multiple genetic markers

Perspectives of traditional Himalayan communities on fostering coexistence with Himalayan wolf and snow leopard

Monogamy: Cause, Consequence, or Corollary of Success in Wild Canids?

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