Combining Historical and Molecular Data to Study Nearly Extinct Native Italian Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix) at the Turn of the Twentieth Century.

ABSTRACT: The grey partridge (Perdix perdix Linnaeus, 1758), is a polytypic species with seven recognized subspecies, including P. p. italica (Hartert, 1917), which is endemic to Italy. Until World War II, the species was widespread across Europe but severely declined due to anthropogenic causes, jeopardizing the Italian subspecies gene pool. Genetic characterization and haplotype identification were performed by analyzing the 5'-end of the mitochondrial control region (CR). A total of 15 haplotypes were detected, seven of which were present in the population before 1915. Among them, three haplotypes were never detected again in the individuals collected after 1915. Interestingly, eight of the 15 haplotypes detected in Italian museum samples belonged exclusively to individuals collecte

SUBMITTER: Greco C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11429232 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature