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Extinctions, genetic erosian and conservation options for the black rhinoceros (Diceros biocornis)

Moodley, Yoshan, Russo, Isa-Rita M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9504-3633, Dalton, Desire L., Kotze, Antoinette, Muya, Shadrack, Haubensak, Patricia, Balint, Boglarka, Munimanda, Gopi K., Deimel, Caroline, Setzer, Andrea, Dicks, Kara, Herzig-Straschil, Barbara, Kalthoff, Daniela C., Siegismund, Hans R., Robovsky, Jan, O'Donoghue, Paul and Bruford, Michael W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6357-6080 2017. Extinctions, genetic erosian and conservation options for the black rhinoceros (Diceros biocornis). Scientific Reports 7 , 41417. 10.1038/srep41417

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Abstract

The black rhinoceros is again on the verge of extinction due to unsustainable poaching in its native range. Despite a wide historic distribution, the black rhinoceros was traditionally thought of as depauperate in genetic variation, and with very little known about its evolutionary history. This knowledge gap has hampered conservation efforts because hunting has dramatically reduced the species’ once continuous distribution, leaving five surviving gene pools of unknown genetic affinity. Here we examined the range-wide genetic structure of historic and modern populations using the largest and most geographically representative sample of black rhinoceroses ever assembled. Using both mitochondrial and nuclear datasets, we described a staggering loss of 69% of the species’ mitochondrial genetic variation, including the most ancestral lineages that are now absent from modern populations. Genetically unique populations in countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi and Angola no longer exist. We found that the historic range of the West African subspecies (D. b. longipes), declared extinct in 2011, extends into southern Kenya, where a handful of individuals survive in the Masai Mara. We also identify conservation units that will help maintain evolutionary potential. Our results suggest a complete re-evaluation of current conservation management paradigms for the black rhinoceros.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Biosciences
Subjects: Q Science > Q Science (General)
Additional Information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
ISSN: 2045-2322
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 26 January 2017
Date of Acceptance: 9 December 2016
Last Modified: 06 Jan 2024 03:04
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/97790

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