Reconciling apparent conflicts between mitochondrial and nuclear phylogenies in African elephants.

ABSTRACT: Conservation strategies for African elephants would be advanced by resolution of conflicting claims that they comprise one, two, three or four taxonomic groups, and by development of genetic markers that establish more incisively the provenance of confiscated ivory. We addressed these related issues by genotyping 555 elephants from across Africa with microsatellite markers, developing a method to identify those loci most effective at geographic assignment of elephants (or their ivory), and conducting novel analyses of continent-wide datasets of mitochondrial DNA. Results showed that nuclear genetic diversity was partitioned into two clusters, corresponding to African forest elephants (99.5% Cluster-1) and African savanna elephants (99.4% Cluster-2). Hybrid individuals were rare. In a compa

SUBMITTER: Ishida Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3110795 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature