Title
Lowe’s Otter Civet Cynogale lowei does not exist
Author(s)
Roberton, Scott I.;Gilbert, M. Thomas P. ;Campos, Paula F. ;Salleh, Faezah Mohd;Tridico, Silvana;Hills, Daphne
Published
2017
Publisher
Small Carnivore Conservation
Abstract
Lowe’s Otter Civet Cynogale lowei is known from only one specimen, which was
collected in the winter of 1926-27 in northern Vietnam. It has been considered to be a
global priority for small carnivore conservation. Its taxonomic status – a species or a
highly disjunct subspecies of Otter Civet C. bennettii – has been debated. This study
assessed the taxonomic validity of Lowe’s Otter Civet through three principal methods:
(i) a gross morphological comparison of tropical Asian otters, Otter Civet and
‘Specimen 1927.12.1.93’ (the Lowe’s Otter Civet holotype), (ii) microscopic hair
analysis from museum specimens of tropical Asian otters, Otter Civet and Specimen
1927.12.1.93 and (iii) DNA analysis of genetic material extracted from Specimen
1927.12.1.93, which was then compared with sequences from tropical Asian otters and
Otter Civet. All methods indicated that the specimen is a juvenile Eurasian Otter Lutra
lutra. The IUCN SSC Small Carnivore Specialist Group, conservation donors and
practitioners should all immediately disregard ’Lowe’s Otter Civet’ as a priority, to
ensure that the limited resources for conservation are not wasted.
Keywords
ancient DNA;microscopic hair morphology;Pocock;small carnivore;Vietnam;Viverridae
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PUB22518