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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
Reviving the african wolf canis lupus lupaster in north and west africa: A mitochondrial lineage ranging more than 6,000 km wide
PLoS ONE, Volume 7, No. 8, Article e42740, Year 2012
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Description
The recent discovery of a lineage of gray wolf in North-East Africa suggests the presence of a cryptic canid on the continent, the African wolf Canis lupus lupaster. We analyzed the mtDNA diversity (cytochrome b and control region) of a series of African Canis including wolf-like animals from North and West Africa. Our objectives were to assess the actual range of C. l. lupaster, to further estimate the genetic characteristics and demographic history of its lineage, and to question its taxonomic delineation from the golden jackal C. aureus, with which it has been considered synonymous. We confirmed the existence of four distinct lineages within the gray wolf, including C. lupus/familiaris (Holarctic wolves and dogs), C. l. pallipes, C. l. chanco and C. l. lupaster. Taxonomic assignment procedures identified wolf-like individuals from Algeria, Mali and Senegal, as belonging to C. l. lupaster, expanding its known distribution c. 6,000 km to the west. We estimated that the African wolf lineage (i) had the highest level of genetic diversity within C. lupus, (ii) coalesced during the Late Pleistocene, contemporaneously with Holarctic wolves and dogs, and (iii) had an effective population size of c. 80,000 females. Our results suggest that the African wolf is a relatively ancient gray wolf lineage with a fairly large, past effective population size, as also suggested by the Pleistocene fossil record. Unique field observations in Senegal allowed us to provide a morphological and behavioral diagnosis of the African wolf that clearly distinguished it from the sympatric golden jackal. However, the detection of C. l. lupaster mtDNA haplotypes in C. aureus from Senegal brings the delineation between the African wolf and the golden jackal into question. In terms of conservation, it appears urgent to further characterize the status of the African wolf with regard to the African golden jackal. © 2012 Gaubert et al.
Authors & Co-Authors
Gaubert, Philippe
France, Paris
Museum National D'histoire Naturelle
Bloch, Cécile
France, Nantes
Sylvatrop
Benyacoub, Slim
Algeria, Annaba
Université Badji Mokhtar - Annaba
Abdelhamid, Adnan
Egypt, Cairo
Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency
Pagani, Paolo
Netherlands, Utrecht
Dutch Wildlife Health Centre
Djagoun, Chabi Adéyèmi Marc Sylvestre
Benin, Cotonou
University of Abomey-calavi
Couloux, Arnaud
France, Evry
Genoscope - Centre National de Séquençage
Dufour, Sylvain
France, Nantes
Sylvatrop
Statistics
Citations: 100
Authors: 8
Affiliations: 7
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0042740
e-ISSN:
19326203
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Locations
Multi-countries
Algeria
Mali
Senegal
Participants Gender
Female