Relict or reintroduction? Genetic population assignment of three Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) recovered on mainland Australia.

ABSTRACT: Today, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is found only on the island of Tasmania, despite once being widespread across mainland Australia. While the devil is thought to have become extinct on the mainland approximately 3000 years ago, three specimens were collected in Victoria (south-eastern Australia) between 1912 and 1991, raising the possibility that a relict mainland population survived in the area. Alternatively, these devils may have escaped captivity or were deliberately released after being transported from Tasmania, a practice that has been strictly controlled since the onset of devil facial tumour disease in the early 1990s. Such quarantine regimes are important to protect disease-free, 'insurance populations' in zoos on the mainland. To test whether the three Vic

SUBMITTER: White LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5414269 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature