Long-term Small Population Size, Deleterious Variation, and Altitude Adaptation in the Ethiopian Wolf, a Severely Endangered Canid.

ABSTRACT: Ethiopian wolves, a canid species endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands, have been steadily declining in numbers for decades. Currently, out of 35 extant species, it is now one of the world's most endangered canids. Most conservation efforts have focused on preventing disease, monitoring movements and behavior, and assessing the geographic ranges of sub-populations. Here, we add an essential layer by determining the Ethiopian wolf's demographic and evolutionary history using high-coverage (∼40×) whole-genome sequencing from 10 Ethiopian wolves from the Bale Mountains. We observe exceptionally low diversity and enrichment of weakly deleterious variants in the Ethiopian wolves in comparison with two North American gray wolf populations and four dog breeds. These patterns are consequences of lon

SUBMITTER: Mooney JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9847632 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature