Citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf‐dog hybridization in Indian savannahs
Abstract Human demographic expansion has confined wildlife to fragmented habitats, often in proximity to human‐modified landscapes. Such interfaces facilitate increased interactions between feral or domesticated animals and wildlife, posing a high risk to wild species. This is especially relevant fo...
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crwiley:10.1002/ece3.10100 2024-09-15T18:01:09+00:00 Citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf‐dog hybridization in Indian savannahs Tyagi, Abhinav Godbole, Mihir Vanak, Abi Tamim Ramakrishnan, Uma 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10100 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.10100 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecology and Evolution volume 13, issue 5 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10100 2024-07-23T04:12:00Z Abstract Human demographic expansion has confined wildlife to fragmented habitats, often in proximity to human‐modified landscapes. Such interfaces facilitate increased interactions between feral or domesticated animals and wildlife, posing a high risk to wild species. This is especially relevant for free‐ranging dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ) and wild canids like gray wolves ( Canis lupus ) and golden jackals ( Canis aureus ). Wolf–dog hybridization may lead to a significant reduction of specific adaptations in wolves that could result in the decline of wolf populations. Detection and genetic discrimination of hybrids between dogs and wolves are challenging because of their complex demographic history and close ancestry. Citizen scientists identified two phenotypically different‐looking individuals and subsequently collected non‐invasive samples that were used by geneticists to test wolf‐dog hybridization. Genomic data from shed hair samples of suspected hybrid individuals using double‐digest restriction‐site‐associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing resulted in 698 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. We investigated the genetic origin of these two individuals analyzed with genetically known dogs, wolves, and other canid species including jackals and dholes ( Cuon alpinus ). Our results provide the first genetic evidence of one F2 hybrid and the other individual could be a complex hybrid between dogs and wolves. Our results re‐iterate the power of next‐generation sequencing (NGS) for non‐invasive samples as an efficient tool for detecting hybrids. Our results suggest the need for more robust monitoring of wolf populations and highlight the tremendous potential for collaborative approaches between citizens and conservation scientists to detect and monitor threats to biodiversity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Wiley Online Library Ecology and Evolution 13 5 |
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Abstract Human demographic expansion has confined wildlife to fragmented habitats, often in proximity to human‐modified landscapes. Such interfaces facilitate increased interactions between feral or domesticated animals and wildlife, posing a high risk to wild species. This is especially relevant for free‐ranging dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ) and wild canids like gray wolves ( Canis lupus ) and golden jackals ( Canis aureus ). Wolf–dog hybridization may lead to a significant reduction of specific adaptations in wolves that could result in the decline of wolf populations. Detection and genetic discrimination of hybrids between dogs and wolves are challenging because of their complex demographic history and close ancestry. Citizen scientists identified two phenotypically different‐looking individuals and subsequently collected non‐invasive samples that were used by geneticists to test wolf‐dog hybridization. Genomic data from shed hair samples of suspected hybrid individuals using double‐digest restriction‐site‐associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing resulted in 698 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. We investigated the genetic origin of these two individuals analyzed with genetically known dogs, wolves, and other canid species including jackals and dholes ( Cuon alpinus ). Our results provide the first genetic evidence of one F2 hybrid and the other individual could be a complex hybrid between dogs and wolves. Our results re‐iterate the power of next‐generation sequencing (NGS) for non‐invasive samples as an efficient tool for detecting hybrids. Our results suggest the need for more robust monitoring of wolf populations and highlight the tremendous potential for collaborative approaches between citizens and conservation scientists to detect and monitor threats to biodiversity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tyagi, Abhinav Godbole, Mihir Vanak, Abi Tamim Ramakrishnan, Uma |
spellingShingle |
Tyagi, Abhinav Godbole, Mihir Vanak, Abi Tamim Ramakrishnan, Uma Citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf‐dog hybridization in Indian savannahs |
author_facet |
Tyagi, Abhinav Godbole, Mihir Vanak, Abi Tamim Ramakrishnan, Uma |
author_sort |
Tyagi, Abhinav |
title |
Citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf‐dog hybridization in Indian savannahs |
title_short |
Citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf‐dog hybridization in Indian savannahs |
title_full |
Citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf‐dog hybridization in Indian savannahs |
title_fullStr |
Citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf‐dog hybridization in Indian savannahs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf‐dog hybridization in Indian savannahs |
title_sort |
citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf‐dog hybridization in indian savannahs |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10100 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.10100 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution volume 13, issue 5 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10100 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
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13 |
container_issue |
5 |
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1810438342413647872 |