Girman D J, Kat P W, Mills M G, Ginsberg J R, Borner M, Wilson V, Fanshawe J H, Fitzgibbon C, Lau L M, Wayne R K
Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles 90024.
J Hered. 1993 Nov-Dec;84(6):450-9. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111371.
African wild dog populations have declined precipitously during the last 100 years in eastern Africa. The possible causes of this decline include a reduction in prey abundance and habitat; disease; and loss of genetic variability accompanied by inbreeding depression. We examined the levels of genetic variability and distinctiveness among populations of African wild dogs using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction site and sequence analyses and multivariate analysis of cranial and dental measurements. Our results indicate that the genetic variability of eastern African wild dog populations is comparable to that of southern Africa and similar to levels of variability found in other large canids. Southern and eastern populations of wild dogs show about 1% divergence in mtDNA sequence and form two monophyletic assemblages containing three mtDNA genotypes each. No genotypes are shared between the two regions. With one exception, all wild dogs examined from zoos had southern African genotypes. Morphological analysis supports the distinction of eastern and southern African wild dog populations, and we suggest they should be considered separate subspecies. An eastern African wild dog breeding program should be initiated to ensure preservation of the eastern African form and to slow the loss of genetic variability that, while not yet apparent, will inevitably occur if wild populations continue to decline. Finally, we examined the phylogenetic relationships of wild dogs to other wolf-like canids through analysis of 736 base pairs (bp) of cytochrome b sequence and showed wild dogs to belong to a phylogenetically distinct lineage of the wolf-like canids.
在过去100年里，东非的非洲野犬数量急剧下降。这种下降的可能原因包括猎物数量和栖息地的减少、疾病以及遗传变异性的丧失和近亲繁殖衰退。我们使用线粒体DNA（mtDNA）限制酶切位点和序列分析以及颅骨和牙齿测量的多变量分析，研究了非洲野犬种群之间的遗传变异性和独特性水平。我们的结果表明，东非野犬种群的遗传变异性与南非相当，并且与其他大型犬科动物的变异性水平相似。南部和东部的野犬种群在mtDNA序列上显示出约1%的差异，并形成了两个单系类群，每个类群包含三种mtDNA基因型。这两个区域之间没有共享的基因型。除了一个例外，所有从动物园检查的野犬都具有南非基因型。形态学分析支持区分东非和南非的野犬种群，我们建议它们应被视为不同的亚种。应该启动一个东非野犬繁殖计划，以确保保护东非的种群形式，并减缓遗传变异性的丧失，如果野生种群继续减少，这种丧失虽然尚未显现，但将不可避免地发生。最后，我们通过分析细胞色素b序列的736个碱基对（bp），研究了野犬与其他狼形犬科动物的系统发育关系，并表明野犬属于狼形犬科动物中一个系统发育上独特的谱系。
