Patterns of Molecular Genetic Variation Among African Elephant Populations

Authors

• Kenine E. Comstock, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
• Nicholas Georgiadis, Mpala Research Center - Kenya
• Jill Pecon-Slattery, National Cancer Institute at Frederick
• Alfred L. Roca, National Cancer Institute at Frederick
• Elaine A. Ostrander, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
• Stephen J. O'Brien, National Cancer Institute at FrederickFollow
• Samuel K. Wasser, University of Washington - Seattle

ORCID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Molecular Ecology

ISSN

0962-1083

Publication Date

12-2002

Keywords

African elephant, Microsatellites, Phylogeography

Abstract

The highly threatened African elephants have recently been subdivided into two species, Loxodonta africana (savannah or bush elephant) and L. cyclotis (forest elephant) based on morphological and molecular studies. A molecular genetic assessment of 16 microsatellite loci across 20 populations (189 individuals) affirms species level genetic differentiation and provides robust genotypic assessment of species affiliation. Savannah elephant populations show modest levels of phylogeographic subdivision based on composite microsatellite genotype, an indication of recent population isolation and restricted gene flow between locales. The savannah elephants show significantly lower genetic diversity than forest elephants, probably reflecting a founder effect in the recent history of the savannah species.

Volume

11

Issue

12

First Page

2489

Last Page

2498

Comments

©2002 Blackwell Science Ltd.

Additional Comments

US Fish and Wildlife Service grant #: 1448-98210-98-G145; NIH training grant #: T32 HG0035; GenBank accession #s: AF364123-AF364125

NSUWorks Citation

Comstock, Kenine E.; Nicholas Georgiadis; Jill Pecon-Slattery; Alfred L. Roca; Elaine A. Ostrander; Stephen J. O'Brien; and Samuel K. Wasser. 2002. "Patterns of Molecular Genetic Variation Among African Elephant Populations." Molecular Ecology 11, (12): 2489-2498. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/619