What's behind these scales? Comments to “The complete mitochondrial genome of Temminck's ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii; Smuts, 1832) and phylogenetic position of the Pholidota (Weber, 1904)”

Gaubert, Philippe; Antunes, Agostinho

doi:10.1016/j.gene.2015.03.021

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…We also observed great levels of mitochondrial divergence among six other species of African and Asian pangolins (Fig. , Table S6, Supporting information), expanding further the applicability of our mtDNA markers for tracing the pangolin trade (see Gaubert & Antunes ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…In such a context, a phylogeographic approach appears as an appropriate tool to overcome the apparent morphological homogeneity in the African common pangolin and to assess geographic variation throughout its range. This idea is supported by preliminary genetic data suggesting deep phylogenetic structuring within the species (Gaubert & Antunes ; Gaubert et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…For that purpose, we retrieved the cyt b sequences previously published by the group (Olayemi et al . ; Gaubert & Antunes ; Gaubert et al . ) and completed the remaining gaps by amplifying cyt b fragments (following the same protocol as detailed above) from additional samples and downloading sequences from GenBank (see Table S1, Supporting information).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The traceability of the pangolin trade is rendered difficult by the various forms under which pangolins are traded, including live animals, smoked carcasses, chopped meat, scales, paws and embryos. Despite the availability of molecular markers – notably mitochondrial DNA – to trace the pangolin trade (Gaubert & Antunes ), only a few studies focusing on Asian species have so far applied the genetic tool to the survey of pangolin seizures (Luo et al . ; Hsieh et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They have a morphology constrained to myrmecophagous diet and fossoriality, with specific features such as a scaled armour and toothless mandibles. The genus-level classification of extant pangolins is still debated (Schlitter 2005;Gaudin et al 2009), mostly because of the lack of exhaustive molecular phylogenetic assessment (see Gaubert & Antunes 2015). For convenience, we will apply the genus Manis to all the extant species of pangolins following the authoritative third edition of the Mammals Species of the World (Schlitter 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phylogeography of the heavily poached African common pangolin (Pholidota, Manis tricuspis) reveals six cryptic lineages as traceable signatures of Pleistocene diversification

et al. 2016

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Knowledge on faunal diversification in African rainforests remains scarce. We used phylogeography to assess (i) the role of Pleistocene climatic oscillations in the diversification of the African common pangolin (Manis tricuspis) and (ii) the utility of our multilocus approach for taxonomic delineation and trade tracing of this heavily poached species. We sequenced 101 individuals for two mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), two nuclear DNA and one Y-borne gene fragments (totalizing 2602 bp). We used a time-calibrated, Bayesian inference phylogenetic framework and conducted character-based, genetic and phylogenetic delineation of species hypotheses within African common pangolins. We identified six geographic lineages partitioned into western Africa, Ghana, the Dahomey Gap, western central Africa, Gabon and central Africa, all diverging during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. MtDNA (cytochrome b + control region) was the sole locus to provide diagnostic characters for each of the six lineages. Tree-based Bayesian delimitation methods using single- and multilocus approaches gave high support for 'species' level recognition of the six African common pangolin lineages. Although the diversification of African common pangolins occurred during Pleistocene cyclical glaciations, causative correlation with traditional rainforest refugia and riverine barriers in Africa was not straightforward. We conclude on the existence of six cryptic lineages within African common pangolins, which might be of major relevance for future conservation strategies. The high discriminative power of the mtDNA markers used in this study should allow an efficient molecular tracing of the regional origin of African common pangolin seizures.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phylogeography of the heavily poached African common pangolin (Pholidota, Manis tricuspis) reveals six cryptic lineages as traceable signatures of Pleistocene diversification

et al. 2016

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Development and characterization of 20 polymorphic microsatellite markers for the white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis (Mammalia, Pholidota)

et al. 2020

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Pangolins, or scaly anteaters, have recently been flagshiped as one of the most illegally traded mammals, and as a corollary, as potential intermediate hosts at the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to improve the traceability of their trade, we developed 20 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), the species most frequently found on African bushmeat markets. We genotyped 24 white-bellied pangolins from the Douala market, Cameroon, originating from the Ebo forest c. 75 km north-east of Douala. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 12 (mean = 6.95), and mean observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.592 (0.208-0.875) and 0.671 (0.469-0.836), respectively. Genetic diversity was higher than that cross-estimated from microsatellite loci developed for other species of pangolins. Two loci deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and two loci showed linkage disequilibrium. Genetic variance (PCoA) was increased with the addition of 13 pangolins of unknown origin, possibly suggesting that the Douala market is fed from differentiated source populations of white-bellied pangolins. Each of the 37 individuals had a unique multilocus genotype. The unbiased probability of identity (uPI) and the probability of identity among siblings (PIsibs) were both very low (uPI = 8.443 e−21; PIsibs = 1.011 e−07). Only five microsatellite loci were needed to reach the conservative value of PIsibs < 0.01, overall indicating a powerful discriminating power of our combined loci. These 20 newly developed microsatellite loci might prove useful in tracing the local-to-global trade of the white-bellied pangolin, and will hopefully contribute to the DNA-assisted implementation of future conservation strategies at reasonable costs. Keywords Pangolins · Phataginus tricuspis · Bushmeat · Microsatellite loci · Illegal wildlife trade · CameroonPublisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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DNA analyses of large pangolin scale seizures: Species identification validation and case studies

Ewart¹,

Lightson²,

Sitam

et al. 2021

Forensic Science International: Animals and Environments

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What's behind these scales? Comments to “The complete mitochondrial genome of Temminck's ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii; Smuts, 1832) and phylogenetic position of the Pholidota (Weber, 1904)”

Cited by 15 publications

References 19 publications

Phylogeography of the heavily poached African common pangolin (Pholidota, Manis tricuspis) reveals six cryptic lineages as traceable signatures of Pleistocene diversification

Phylogeography of the heavily poached African common pangolin (Pholidota, Manis tricuspis) reveals six cryptic lineages as traceable signatures of Pleistocene diversification

Development and characterization of 20 polymorphic microsatellite markers for the white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis (Mammalia, Pholidota)

DNA analyses of large pangolin scale seizures: Species identification validation and case studies

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