Biology Faculty Articles
Title
Biochemical genetic variation in geographic isolates of African and Asiatic lions.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1987
Publication Title
National Geographic Research
Volume
3
Issue/No.
1
First Page
114
Last Page
124
Abstract
Electrophoretic variation of 46-50 allozyme loci were typed in 4 African and 1 Asiatic (Indian) Panthera leo populations. The African populations revealed moderate amounts of genetic variation compared with other cat species. The lions from the Ngorongoro Crater, a small isolated 'island' population within the Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania, had a reduced level of variability which was a precise subset of the larger founder population of the Serengeti plains. The Asiatic lion population from the Gir Forest Sanctuary (Gujarat, W India) is a relict population of <250 individuals. The Gir lions were genetically monomorphic at each of 46 typed loci, suggesting a drastic population bottleneck followed by inbreeding in their recent history. Results suggest that the two subspecies shared a common ancestor recently, estimated at 50 000-200 000 yr BP.-from Authors
NSUWorks Citation
O'Brien, S. J.. 1987. "Biochemical genetic variation in geographic isolates of African and Asiatic lions.." National Geographic Research 3, (1): 114-124. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/1132
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