Lester, JD;
Vigilant, L;
Gratton, P;
McCarthy, MS;
Barratt, CD;
Dieguez, P;
Agbor, A;
... Arandjelovic, M; + view all
(2021)
Recent genetic connectivity and clinal variation in chimpanzees.
Communications Biology
, 4
(1)
, Article 283. 10.1038/s42003-021-01806-x.
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Abstract
Much like humans, chimpanzees occupy diverse habitats and exhibit extensive behavioural variability. However, chimpanzees are recognized as a discontinuous species, with four subspecies separated by historical geographic barriers. Nevertheless, their range-wide degree of genetic connectivity remains poorly resolved, mainly due to sampling limitations. By analyzing a geographically comprehensive sample set amplified at microsatellite markers that inform recent population history, we found that isolation by distance explains most of the range-wide genetic structure of chimpanzees. Furthermore, we did not identify spatial discontinuities corresponding with the recognized subspecies, suggesting that some of the subspecies-delineating geographic barriers were recently permeable to gene flow. Substantial range-wide genetic connectivity is consistent with the hypothesis that behavioural flexibility is a salient driver of chimpanzee responses to changing environmental conditions. Finally, our observation of strong local differentiation associated with recent anthropogenic pressures portends future loss of critical genetic diversity if habitat fragmentation and population isolation continue unabated.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Recent genetic connectivity and clinal variation in chimpanzees |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s42003-021-01806-x |
| Publisher version: | https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01806-x |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source |
| Keywords: | Classification and taxonomy; Evolutionary biology; Evolutionary ecology; Genotyping and haplotyping; Structural variation |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10123815 |
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