Title
No longer locally extinct? Tracing the origins of a lion (Panthera leo) living in Gabon
Author(s)
Barnett, Ross; Sinding, Mikkel-Holder S.; Vieira, Filipe G.; Mendoza, Marie Lisandra Zepeda; Bonnet, Matthieu; Araldi, Alessandro; Kienast, Ivonne; Zambarda, Alice; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki; Henschel, Philipp; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.
Published
2018
Publisher
Conservation Genetics
Abstract
Lions (Panthera leo) are of particular conservation concern due to evidence of recent, widespread population declines in what has hitherto been seen as a common species, robust to anthropogenic disturbance. Here we use non-invasive methods to recover complete mitochondrial genomes from single hair samples collected in the field in order to explore the identity of the Gabonese Plateaux Batéké lion. Comparison of the mitogenomes against a comprehensive dataset of African lion sequences that includes relevant geographically proximate lion populations from both contemporary and ancient sources, enabled us to identify the Plateaux Batéké lion as a close maternal relative to now extirpated populations found in Gabon and nearby Congo during the twentieth century, and to extant populations of Southern Africa. Our study demonstrates the relevance of ancient DNA methods to field conservation work, and the ability of trace field samples to provide copious genetic information about free-ranging animals.
Keywords
Ancient DNA;Mitochondrial genomes;Panthera leo;Lion;Gabon;Congo;Plateaux Batéké National Park
Access Full Text
A full-text copy of this article may be available. Please email the WCS Library to request.
![]()
Back
PUB22972