High-throughput genotyping technologies developed for model species can potentially increase the resolution of demographic history and ancestry in wild relatives. We use a SNP genotyping microarray developed for the domestic dog to assay variation in over 48K loci in wolf-like species worldwide. Despite the high mobility of these large carnivores, we find distinct hierarchical population units within gray wolves and coyotes that correspond with geographic and ecologic differences among populations. Further, we test controversial theories about the ancestry of the Great Lakes wolf and red wolf using an analysis of haplotype blocks across all 38 canid autosomes. We find that these enigmatic canids are highly admixed varieties derived from gray wolves and coyotes, respectively. This divergent genomic history suggests that they do not have a shared recent ancestry as proposed by previous researchers. Interspecific hybridization, as well as the process of evolutionary divergence, may be responsible for the observed phenotypic distinction of both forms. Such admixture complicates decisions regarding endangered species restoration and protection.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gr.116301.110 | DOI Listing |
Mol Ecol
January 2025
Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Seville, Spain.
Invading species along with increased anthropogenization may lead to hybridization events between wild species and closely related domesticates. As a consequence, wild species may carry introgressed alleles from domestic species, which is generally assumed to yield adverse effects in wild populations. The opposite evolutionary consequence, adaptive introgression, where introgressed genes are positively selected in the wild species, is possible but has rarely been documented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Vet Res
December 2024
Department of Parasitology and Invasive Diseases, National Veterinary Research Institute, 24-100 Puławy, Poland.
Introduction: The aim of this study was to estimate the occurrence of spp. and other helminth infections in grey wolves in south-eastern Poland.
Material And Methods: Overall, 74 samples of wolf faeces were examined with a multiplex PCR and a system of real-time quantitative PCR methods to detect and identify spp.
Animals (Basel)
December 2024
Institute for Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly utca 1, H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary.
The populations and distribution areas of large carnivores have declined all over the world due to extirpation and habitat alteration and degradation. However, the grey wolf () has recovered in Europe in recent decades and has been reappearing in Hungary since the 1990s. Since the dominant prey of this carnivore is the red deer () and the wild boar () in Central and Eastern Europe, we aimed to study the impact of wolves on local deer populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeliyon
December 2024
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, National University of Engineering, Lima, Peru.
The wake effect is a relevant factor in determining the optimal distribution of wind turbines within the boundaries of a wind farm. This reduces the incident wind speed on downstream wind turbines, which results in a decrease in energy production for the wind farm. This paper proposes a novel approach for optimizing the distribution of wind turbines using a new Genetic Gray Wolf Optimizer (GGWO).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcology
December 2024
Wildlife Research and Monitoring Section, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
Animals within social groups respond to costs and benefits of sociality by adjusting the proportion of time they spend in close proximity to other individuals in the group (cohesion). Variation in cohesion between individuals, in turn, shapes important group-level processes such as subgroup formation and fission-fusion dynamics. Although critical to animal sociality, a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing cohesion remains a gap in our knowledge of cooperative behavior in animals.
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