Deep mitochondrial DNA phylogeographic divergence in the threatened aoudad Ammotragus lervia (Bovidae, Caprini).

The aoudad or Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) is a threatened ungulate emblematic of North Africa, whose population structure and subspecific taxonomy have not been examined genetically. This knowledge is essential and urgently needed to inform ongoing conservation and management efforts. We analysed the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and four nuclear genes (casein kappa, spectrin beta nonerythrocytic 1, thyroglobulin, thyrotropin subunit beta) for the first phylogeographic survey of the aoudad, and uncovered a deep Mediterranean-Saharan mitochondrial split separating two highly distinct evolutionary lineages.

Genetic evidence supporting the taxonomic separation of the Arabian and Northwest African subspecies of the desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus).

Traditional subspecies call attention to differences between geographic populations with research potential, but their value is often in need of revision. Genetic data can be useful for evaluating the taxonomic validity of historical species and subspecies designations or for identifying morphologically cryptic divergent lineages worthy of further in-depth taxonomic study. The desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus) has a wide but fragmented distribution in arid and semi-arid habitats from the northwest to the northeast of Africa and southwestern Asia, and its taxonomy is still unclear.