Identifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)

Abstract Native to southern Africa, the blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) is the only large African mammal species known to have become extinct in historical times. However, it was poorly documented prior to its extinction ~ 1800 AD, and many of the small number of museum specimens attributed...

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Autores principales:	Elisabeth Hempel, Faysal Bibi, J. Tyler Faith, James S. Brink, Daniela C. Kalthoff, Pepijn Kamminga, Johanna L. A. Paijmans, Michael V. Westbury, Michael Hofreiter, Frank E. Zachos
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/494b8ac1a1524a298e61b1e8d39c70ce
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:494b8ac1a1524a298e61b1e8d39c70ce2021-12-02T15:23:47ZIdentifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)10.1038/s41598-020-80142-22045-2322https://doaj.org/article/494b8ac1a1524a298e61b1e8d39c70ce2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80142-2https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Native to southern Africa, the blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) is the only large African mammal species known to have become extinct in historical times. However, it was poorly documented prior to its extinction ~ 1800 AD, and many of the small number of museum specimens attributed to it are taxonomically contentious. This places limitations on our understanding of its morphology, ecology, and the mechanisms responsible for its demise. We retrieved genetic information from ten of the sixteen putative blue antelope museum specimens using both shotgun sequencing and mitochondrial genome target capture in an attempt to resolve the uncertainty surrounding the identification of these specimens. We found that only four of the ten investigated specimens, and not a single skull, represent the blue antelope. This indicates that the true number of historical museum specimens of the blue antelope is even smaller than previously thought, and therefore hardly any reference material is available for morphometric, comparative and genetic studies. Our study highlights how genetics can be used to identify rare species in natural history collections where other methods may fail or when records are scarce. Additionally, we present an improved mitochondrial reference genome for the blue antelope as well as one complete and two partial mitochondrial genomes. A first analysis of these mitochondrial genomes indicates low levels of maternal genetic diversity in the ‘museum population’, possibly confirming previous results that blue antelope population size was already low at the time of the European colonization of South Africa.Elisabeth HempelFaysal BibiJ. Tyler FaithJames S. BrinkDaniela C. KalthoffPepijn KammingaJohanna L. A. PaijmansMichael V. WestburyMichael HofreiterFrank E. ZachosNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Elisabeth Hempel Faysal Bibi J. Tyler Faith James S. Brink Daniela C. Kalthoff Pepijn Kamminga Johanna L. A. Paijmans Michael V. Westbury Michael Hofreiter Frank E. Zachos Identifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)
description	Abstract Native to southern Africa, the blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) is the only large African mammal species known to have become extinct in historical times. However, it was poorly documented prior to its extinction ~ 1800 AD, and many of the small number of museum specimens attributed to it are taxonomically contentious. This places limitations on our understanding of its morphology, ecology, and the mechanisms responsible for its demise. We retrieved genetic information from ten of the sixteen putative blue antelope museum specimens using both shotgun sequencing and mitochondrial genome target capture in an attempt to resolve the uncertainty surrounding the identification of these specimens. We found that only four of the ten investigated specimens, and not a single skull, represent the blue antelope. This indicates that the true number of historical museum specimens of the blue antelope is even smaller than previously thought, and therefore hardly any reference material is available for morphometric, comparative and genetic studies. Our study highlights how genetics can be used to identify rare species in natural history collections where other methods may fail or when records are scarce. Additionally, we present an improved mitochondrial reference genome for the blue antelope as well as one complete and two partial mitochondrial genomes. A first analysis of these mitochondrial genomes indicates low levels of maternal genetic diversity in the ‘museum population’, possibly confirming previous results that blue antelope population size was already low at the time of the European colonization of South Africa.
format	article
author	Elisabeth Hempel Faysal Bibi J. Tyler Faith James S. Brink Daniela C. Kalthoff Pepijn Kamminga Johanna L. A. Paijmans Michael V. Westbury Michael Hofreiter Frank E. Zachos
author_facet	Elisabeth Hempel Faysal Bibi J. Tyler Faith James S. Brink Daniela C. Kalthoff Pepijn Kamminga Johanna L. A. Paijmans Michael V. Westbury Michael Hofreiter Frank E. Zachos
author_sort	Elisabeth Hempel
title	Identifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)
title_short	Identifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)
title_full	Identifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)
title_fullStr	Identifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)
title_full_unstemmed	Identifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)
title_sort	identifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (hippotragus leucophaeus)
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/494b8ac1a1524a298e61b1e8d39c70ce
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Identifying the true number of specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)

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