First insights into past biodiversity of giraffes based on mitochondrial sequences from museum specimens
| Autor: | David Edderai, Michel Saint-Jalme, Jacques Rigoulet, Anne-Sophie Magnant, Alexandre Hassanin, Bertrand Chardonnet, Alice Petzold |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Conservation genetics
020209 energy Population 0211 other engineering and technologies Zoology 02 engineering and technology Subspecies Zarafa 021105 building & construction 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Animalia Giraffa education Chordata ancient DNA Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Taxonomy Artiodactyla education.field_of_study biology Botany Biodiversity biology.organism_classification Pleistocene Phylogeography Geography Ancient DNA Taxon conservation genetics QL1-991 Giraffidae QK1-989 Mammalia Taxonomy (biology) |
| Zdroj: | European Journal of Taxonomy, Iss 703 (2020) |
| Popis: | Intensified exploration of sub-Saharan Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries led to many newly described giraffe subspecies. Several populations described at that time are now extinct, which is problematic for a full understanding of giraffe taxonomy. In this study, we provide mitochondrial sequences for 41 giraffes, including 19 museum specimens of high importance to resolve giraffe taxonomy, such as Zarafa from Sennar and two giraffes from Abyssinia (subspecies camelopardalis), three of the first southern individuals collected by Levaillant and Delalande (subspecies capensis), topotypes of the former subspecies congoensis and cottoni, and giraffes from an extinct population in Senegal. Our phylogeographic analysis shows that no representative of the nominate subspecies camelopardalis was included in previous molecular studies, as Zarafa and two other specimens assigned to this taxon are characterized by a divergent haplogroup, that the former subspecies congoensis and cottoni should be treated as synonyms of antiquorum, and that the subspecies angolensis and capensis should be synonymized with giraffa, whereas the subspecies wardi should be rehabilitated. In addition, we found evidence for the existence of a previously unknown subspecies from Senegal (newly described in this study), which is now extinct. Based on these results, we propose a new classification of giraffes recognizing three species and 10 subspecies. According to our molecular dating estimates, the divergence among these taxa has been promoted by Pleistocene climatic changes resulting in either savannah expansion or the development of hydrographical networks (Zambezi, Nile, Lake Chad, Lake Victoria). A correction has been published: Petzold A., Magnant A.-S., Edderai D., Chardonnet B., Rigoulet J., Saint-Jalme M. & Hassanin A. 2020. First insights into past biodiversity of giraffes based on mitochondrial sequences from museum specimens – Corrigendum. European Journal of Taxonomy 717: 1–2. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.717.1093 |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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