Harley Eric H, Baumgarten Ingrid, Cunningham Jessica, O'Ryan Colleen
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory 7925, South Africa.
Mol Ecol. 2005 Sep;14(10):2981-90. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02660.x.
Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) are one of the most endangered mammal species in Africa, with a population decline of more than 96% by the end of the last century. Habitat destruction and encroachment has resulted in fragmentation of the remaining populations. To assist in conservation management, baseline information is provided here on relative genetic diversity and population differentiation among the four remaining recognized subspecies. Using microsatellite data from nine loci and 121 black rhinoceros individuals, and comparing the results with those of other African species affected in similar ways, Diceros bicornis michaeli retained the most genetic diversity (heterozygosity 0.675) compared with Diceros bicornis minor (0.459) and Diceros bicornis bicornis (0.505), suggesting that the duration of the known bottlenecks in these populations has only had a limited impact on diversity. Comparable and moderate degrees of population differentiation were found between D. b. minor, D. b. bicornis and D. b. michaeli. Results from the single sample available of the most endangered subspecies, Diceros bicornis longipes, showed the least diversity of all individuals examined. This information should assist conservation management decisions, especially those affecting population viability assessments and selection of individuals for translocations, and will also facilitate subspecies identification for ex situ individuals of uncertain origin.
黑犀牛（双角犀属）是非洲最濒危的哺乳动物物种之一，到上世纪末其种群数量下降超过了96%。栖息地破坏和侵占导致了剩余种群的碎片化。为协助保护管理工作，本文提供了关于现存四个公认亚种的相对遗传多样性和种群分化的基线信息。利用来自9个基因座的微卫星数据以及121只黑犀牛个体，并将结果与其他受到类似影响的非洲物种的结果进行比较，与小独角犀（杂合度0.459）和双角犀（杂合度0.505）相比，米氏独角犀保留了最多的遗传多样性（杂合度0.675），这表明这些种群中已知瓶颈期的持续时间对多样性的影响有限。在小独角犀、双角犀和米氏独角犀之间发现了相当且适度的种群分化程度。最濒危亚种西部黑犀仅有的一个样本的结果显示，在所检测的所有个体中其多样性最低。这些信息应有助于保护管理决策，尤其是那些影响种群生存力评估和用于迁移的个体选择的决策，并且还将便于对来源不明的圈养个体进行亚种鉴定。
