A population genetic analysis of the Critically Endangered Madagascar big-headed turtle, Erymnochelys madagascariensis across captive and wild populations.

ABSTRACT: Erymnochelys madagascariensis is a Critically Endangered turtle endemic to Madagascar. Anthropogenic activity has depleted the wild population by 70% in the last century, and effective conservation management is essential to ensuring its persistence. Captive breeding was implemented to augment depleted populations in the southern part of Ankarafantsika National Park (ANP), when no genetic data were available for E. madagascariensis. It is unknown how much of the natural population's diversity is encapsulated in captivity. We used eight microsatellite loci and fragments of two mitochondrial genes to identify the genetic structure of E. madagascariensis in the wild. Captive bred turtles were compared with wild populations in order to assess the representativeness of this ex situ conservation

SUBMITTER: White NFD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9130144 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature