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Genetic analysis of southern African gemsbok (Oryx gazella) reveals high variability, distinct lineages and strong divergence from the East African Oryx beisa

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Abstract

We carried out a population genetic analysis of five southern African gemsbok (Oryx gazella) populations based on 530 bp of the mitochondrial control region and ten microsatellites in 75 individuals. Both markers show the high variability often observed in African bovids. Three of the populations which can be traced back to very small founding or current sizes do not show any signs of reduced variability compared to the remaining populations. The mitochondrial haplotypes form three distinct lineages which most likely originated in the Pleistocene when climate fluctuations led to periodical reduction and spreading of gemsbok habitat and which, today, are found throughout the distribution range. Bayesian microsatellite analyses yielded two groups, suggesting a more recent geographical differentiation following the admixture of the mtDNA lineages. Combining our sequences with available published data of the remaining oryx species allowed for a direct molecular comparison of O. gazella and O. beisa which have sometimes been considered a single species. The average genetic divergence between haplotypes from the two taxa was very high (39.9%), supporting their classification into two different species.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biodiversity, University of Limpopo, Sovenga, South Africa

    Bennie Osmers

  2. Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Britt-Sabina Petersen

  3. Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Günther B. Hartl & Frank E. Zachos

  4. Department of Genetics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    J. Paul Grobler & Antoinette Kotze

  5. National Zoological Gardens, Pretoria, South Africa

    Antoinette Kotze & Elzet Van Aswegen

  6. Mammal Collection, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Frank E. Zachos

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  1. Bennie Osmers
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  2. Britt-Sabina Petersen
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Correspondence to Frank E. Zachos.

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Osmers, B., Petersen, BS., Hartl, G.B. et al. Genetic analysis of southern African gemsbok (Oryx gazella) reveals high variability, distinct lineages and strong divergence from the East African Oryx beisa. Mamm Biol 77, 60–66 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2011.08.003

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