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African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa/Botswana) (Photo M. Herbst).
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Hybridization between domestic and wild animals is a major concern for biodiversity conservation, and as habitats become increasingly fragmented, conserving biodiversity at all levels, including genetic, becomes increasingly important. Except for tropical forests and true deserts, African wildcats occur across the African continent; however, almost...
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... interbreeding with domestic cats ( Randi et al. 2001;Pierpaoli et al. 2003;Lecis et al. 2006;Oliveira et al. 2008a,b). None of these European studies explicitly stated whether any of these wildcat populations originated from relatively isolated parts within the species' distribution ranges or even protected areas. African wildcat (F. s. lyb- ica, Fig. 1) populations from southern Africa still appeared genetically distinct and pure before 2000 (Wiseman et al. 2000). This is despite the general concern that hybridization with domestic cats might be occurring extensively, to the point where it was generally accepted that "hybridization will lead to the virtual extinction of the African ...
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... characteristics: African wildcats have dis- tinctive coat-patterns, characteristic long legs, and a prominent reddish tint behind the ears (Fig. 1, Smithers 1983). Cats with typical wildcat markings and coloration but with darker ears were classified as putative hybrids. Additionally, the legs of hybrids cats are visibly shorter than those of pure wildcats. Wildcats were also classified as puta- tive hybrids when they were kept as domestic pets and when the owners suspected or ...
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... assignment tests indicated that two genetic clus- ters exist, overall corresponding to African wildcats and domestic cats (Fig. 3). Higher values of K were congruent with this finding, indicating that genetic clustering were mainly driven by differences between African wildcats and domestic cats (Fig. S1). Cats from the Kgalagadi Trans- frontier Park assigned highly to the African wildcat genetic cluster (mean q AWC = 0.982). Surprisingly, based on morphology, seven suspected hybrids assigned very highly to the African wildcat genetic cluster (q AWC ≥ 0.89) and four to the domestic cat genetic clus- ter (q DC ≥ 0.85) (Fig. 2, Table 1). ...
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... and domestic cats (Fig. S1). Cats from the Kgalagadi Trans- frontier Park assigned highly to the African wildcat genetic cluster (mean q AWC = 0.982). Surprisingly, based on morphology, seven suspected hybrids assigned very highly to the African wildcat genetic cluster (q AWC ≥ 0.89) and four to the domestic cat genetic clus- ter (q DC ≥ 0.85) (Fig. 2, Table 1). All remaining morpho- logical hybrids showed some level of admixture. Among individuals classified as domestic cats only one cat showed some sign of admixture (q AWC = 0.29). Of the putative African wildcats collected outside protected areas (n = 68), seven individuals had admixed genotypes (q DC : 0.23-0.79) while two cats assigned ...
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... body measurements and mean annual home range for eight African wildcats observed during home range studies. Figure S1. STRUCTURE bar plots where vertical axes illustrate the proportional assignment of individual genomes to the inferred genetic groups (K = 2-8) for African wildcats outside protected areas, domestic cats, morphological hybrids, and individuals from the Kgalag- adi Transfrontier Park. ...
Citations
... Hybridization among cat species could have important implications for genetic diversity and conservation. Notably, evidence of hybridization among domestic and wild cats is found in South Africa and Europe, and is related to human population density in proximate spaces to wild cat habitat (145,146). ...
Pallas's cat, or the manul cat (Otocolobus manul), is a small felid native to the grasslands and steppes of central Asia. Population strongholds in Mongolia and China face growing challenges from climate change, habitat fragmentation, poaching, and other sources. These threats, combined with O. manul’s zoo collection popularity and value in evolutionary biology, necessitate improvement of species genomic resources. We used standalone nanopore sequencing to assemble a 2.5 Gb, 61-contig nuclear assembly and 17097 bp mitogenome for O. manul. The primary nuclear assembly had 56× sequencing coverage, a contig N50 of 118 Mb, and a 94.7% BUSCO completeness score for Carnivora-specific genes. High genome collinearity within Felidae permitted alignment-based scaffolding onto the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) reference genome. Manul contigs spanned all 19 felid chromosomes with an inferred total gap length of less than 400 kilobases. Modified basecalling and variant phasing produced an alternate pseudohaplotype assembly and allele-specific DNA methylation calls; 61 differentially methylated regions were identified between haplotypes. Nearest features included classical imprinted genes, non-coding RNAs, and putative novel imprinted loci. The assembled mitogenome successfully resolved existing discordance between Felinae nuclear and mtDNA phylogenies. All assembly drafts were generated from 158 Gb of sequence using seven minION flow cells.
... Esto último, amenaza la integridad genética de las poblaciones silvestres de gatos silvestres y lobos, muchas de las cuales están fuertemente amenazadas (Adams et al., 2007;Biró et al., 2005;Donfrancesco et al., 2019;Oliveira et al., 2008;Verardi et al., 2006). Por ejemplo, se ha documentado que el gato doméstico se ha entrecruzado con poblaciones de gato silvestre (Felis s. silvestris y Felis s. libyca) en Hungría, Escocia, Italia, Alemania y en la península Ibérica (Adams et al., 2007;Le Roux et al., 2015;Li et al., 2016;O'Brien et al., 2009;Oliveira et al., 2008). E incluso se han detectado híbridos del gato doméstico y el gato de la selva o gato rojo (Felis chaus) en Egipto (Li et al., 2016). ...
Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 94 (2023): e944850 Artículo de revisión Tus mejores amigos pueden ser tus peores enemigos: impacto de los gatos y perros domésticos en países megadiversos Recibido: 12 noviembre 2021; aceptado: 23 septiembre 2022 Resumen Los gatos y perros domésticos son las mascotas preferidas del hombre, por lo que se han convertido en especies invasoras y los carnívoros más abundantes del planeta. A pesar de su buena relación con nuestra especie, tienen un impacto ecológico negativo con consecuencias para las políticas de conservación. Los efectos que estos animales tienen sobre la fauna silvestre han sido estudiados principalmente en países con baja biodiversidad de vertebrados (EUA, Nueva Zelanda y Europa), y salvo por algunos trabajos realizados en Australia, Brasil, y México, no contamos con información sobre sus efectos en países con alta biodiversidad. Los efectos negativos que ambas especies tienen sobre la biodiversidad incluyen la depredación y competencia con fauna nativa, su hibridación con especies filogenéticamente cercanas o poblaciones silvestres de su propia especie, y la transmisión de enfermedades a la fauna silvestre y a los humanos. La falta de información sobre los efectos de depredadores introducidos a nivel continental y la falsa idea de que los gatos y perros son ambientalmente inocuos, vuelve crucial aumentar la investigación sobre estas especies en países megadiversos para proponer estrategias de manejo que fomenten la conservación de fauna nativa.
... Hybridization among cat species could have important implications for genetic diversity and conservation. Notably, evidence of hybridization among domestic and wild cats is found in South Africa and Europe, and is related to human population density in proximate spaces to wild cat habitat 145,146 . ...
Pallas’s cat, or the manul cat ( Otocolobus manul ), is a small felid native to the grasslands and steppes of central Asia. Population strongholds in Mongolia and China face growing challenges from climate change, habitat fragmentation, poaching, and other sources. These threats, combined with O. manul ’s zoo collection popularity and value in evolutionary biology, necessitate improvement of species genomic resources. We used standalone nanopore sequencing to assemble a 2.5 Gb, 61-contig nuclear assembly and 17,097 bp mitogenome for O. manul . The primary nuclear assembly had 56x sequencing coverage, a contig N50 of 118 Mb, and a 94.7% BUSCO completeness score for Carnivora -specific genes. High genome collinearity within Felidae permitted alignment-based scaffolding onto the fishing cat ( Prionailurus viverrinus ) reference genome. Manul contigs spanned all 19 felid chromosomes with an inferred total gap length of less than 400 kilobases. Modified basecalling and variant phasing produced an alternate pseudohaplotype assembly and allele-specific DNA methylation calls; sixty-one differentially methylated regions were identified between haplotypes. Nearest features included classical imprinted genes, non-coding RNAs, and putative novel imprinted loci. The assembled mitogenome successfully resolved existing discordance between Felinae nuclear and mtDNA phylogenies. All assembly drafts were generated from 158 Gb of sequence using seven minION flow cells.
... Fourteen South African samples (collected in 2014 and 2015) were identified as potential hybrids in our STRU CTU RE analysis (i.e. being admixed), using an approach adopted in previous studies (Le Roux et al. 2015, Castillo et al. 2021. To confirm the maternal identities of these genotypes, a portion of the CO1 mtDNA gene was sequenced. ...
Knowledge of the introduction history and spread dynamics of invasive species can provide important insights for management (Ens et al. in Environ Rev (in press), 2022), however such information is often unavailable for accidental introductions. Here we infer how the European shore crab, Carcinus maenas , and its congener, the Mediterranean shore crab, C. aestuarii , were introduced to and spread within South Africa. We do this using nuclear microsatellite data and Bayesian assignment tests and Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) modelling that included samples from the native and other invasive ranges of these two species. We also compared the genetic diversity and structure of one of the South African populations during and after intensive management, with that of another, unmanaged, population. South African populations had higher genetic diversity than invasive Carcinus populations from elsewhere in the world. Moreover, the ABC analyses suggest that South African populations originated from an admixture event between individuals of C. maenas from a population in the native range and an invasive population from Canada. We also identified instances of hybridisation between Carcinus maenas and C. aestuarii in South Africa. South African populations showed no genetic structure, suggesting either extensive migration between them or that populations arose from the same initial introduction. Management of Carcinus did not affect genetic diversity or structure, and we suspect that the management duration was insufficient to target a full generation of crabs. Together these results suggest multiple introductions and/or high propagule pressure to South Africa, crab (larval or adult) movement between existing populations, and some hybridisation. For eradication from South Africa to be achieved, management would need to concurrently target all known invasive populations and clearly establish that new introductions could be prevented.
... Further information on the levels and fitness consequences of hybridization for the species are required to inform a more robust assessment. It is worth noting that a recent study in South Africa (Le Roux et al. 2015) showed that rates of hybridization with domestic cats can be low, even in human-dominated landscapes. ...
... Afro-Asiatic wildcats are considered to be threatened by domestic cats and hybridization is widespread across their range (Yamaguchi et al. 2015, Yu et al. 2021. However, a recent study (Le Roux et al. 2015), showed that wildcat populations in South Africa appear to be genetically pure, with low levels of hybridization, and protected areas play an important role in maintaining genetic purity by reducing the likelihood of contact with domestic cats. There is insufficient information on the level of hybridization with domestic cats in other parts of the range, and therefore, this threat should not be underestimated. ...
... The more resources available, the smaller the area and the lower the costs of controlling it. The hypothesised original spacing pattern is one in which the home range of an adult male includes two or three smaller home ranges of adult females [18]. ...
... In general, tomcats have a significantly larger home ranges than females (but see [19]), regardless of habitat and type of resources-natural prey and/or food distributed by humans, as also reported for the African wildcat [18]. ...
... The spatial distribution pattern of rural unowned domestic cats resembles the pattern of African and European wildcats [18,24,25], consisting of a male owning and monitoring a relatively large home range, which includes the home ranges of two or three females. In this environment, males and females are solitary but females may also form small groups of closely related individuals associated with human dwellings [13,26,27]. ...
Welfare and management decisions for unowned free-ranging cats in urban environments should no longer be based on knowledge about behavioural ecology of solitary cats living and breeding in more natural ‘wild’ environments. We provide evidence that urban free-ranging domestic cats in the Anthropocene have responded to rapidly changing environments, such as abundance of food and higher population densities of conspecifics by adapting their behaviour (behavioural plasticity—the ability of a genotype (individual) to express different behaviours according to its environment) and social organisation to living in complex social groups, especially those living in colonies. Urban free-ranging cats are now more social, as demonstrated by different breeding patterns, lower infanticide, more frequent affiliative interactions in general, and different spatial groupings. We argue that this knowledge should be disseminated widely, and inform future research and strategies used to manage free-ranging cats across environments. Understanding behavioural plasticity and other recently evolved traits of domestic cats may lead to management strategies that maximise health and welfare of cats, wildlife, and humans—otherwise domestic cat behaviour may be ‘misunderstood’. Importantly, interdisciplinary research using expertise from biological and social sciences, and engaging human communities, should evaluate these management strategies to ensure they maintain optimal welfare of free-ranging domestic cats while preserving biodiversity and protecting wildcats.
... The more resources available, the smaller the area and the lower the costs of controlling it. The hypothesised original spacing pattern is one in which the home range of an adult male includes two or three smaller home ranges of adult females [18]. ...
... In general, tomcats have a significantly larger home ranges than females (but see [19]), regardless of habitat and type of resources-natural prey and/or food distributed by humans, as also reported for the African wildcat [18]. ...
... The spatial distribution pattern of rural unowned domestic cats resembles the pattern of African and European wildcats [18,24,25], consisting of a male owning and monitoring a relatively large home range, which includes the home ranges of two or three females. In this environment, males and females are solitary but females may also form small groups of closely related individuals associated with human dwellings [13,26,27]. ...
The free-ranging unowned domestic cat (unowned—not under human control with respect to movement and sexual behaviour), living in the Anthropocene, can live a strictly solitary life or in socially structured groups, depending on environmental conditions. This paper explores the evidence for evolution of new traits (behavioural, morphological, physiological, immunological) in domestic cats, to adapt to the variety of ecosystems they now successfully inhabit. While the domestic cat ancestor lived a strictly solitary life, unowned free-ranging cats today may live in multi-male/multi-female colonies in urban city centres, where they are dependent on food provided by people. Urban free-ranging cats are now more social, which has been reflected in different breeding patterns, lower infanticide, more frequent affiliative interactions in general, and different spatial groupings. This means there is a potential for domestic cat behaviour to be ‘misunderstood’. Recognising that negative impacts of free-ranging domestic cats in urban fringe areas must be mitigated, we discuss how understanding behavioural plasticity and other recently evolved traits of domestic cats may lead to management strategies that maximise health and welfare of cats, wildlife, and humans.
... Tropical forest in South America: margays Leopardus wiedii and anthropogenic disturbance (Horn et al. 2020), South American coatis Nasua nasua and habitat fragmentation (Massara et al. 2016), Neotropical otters Lontra longicaudis and human impact (Andrade et al. 2019), ocelots Leopardus pardalis and forest loss (Cruz et al. 2019). Arid savanna in southern Africa: yellow mongooses Cynictis penicillata and bush encroachment (Blaum et al. 2007), black-backed jackals Canis mesomelas and disease (Bellan et al. 2012), African wild cats Felis silvestris and habitat fragmentation (Le Roux et al. 2015), meerkats Suricata suricatta and climate change (van de Ven et al. 2020). Tundra in northern Europe: Arctic foxes Vulpes lagopus and bioaccumulation (Fuglei et al. 2007), wolverines Gulo gulo and habitat fragmentation (May et al. 2006), red foxes and human impact (Elmhagen et al. 2017), least weasels Mustela nivalis and climate change (Mills et al. 2018). ...
Species that respond to ecosystem change in a timely, measurable, and interpretable way can be used as sentinels of global change. Contrary to a pervasive view, we suggest that, among Carnivora, small carnivores are more appropriate sentinels than large carnivores. This reasoning is built around six key points: that, compared to large carnivores, small carnivores 1) are more species-rich and diverse, providing more potential sentinels in many systems; 2) occupy a wider range of ecological niches, exhibiting a greater variety of sensitivities to change; 3) hold an intermediate trophic position that is more directly affected by changes at the producer, primary consumer, and tertiary consumer levels; 4) have shorter life spans and higher reproductive rates, exhibiting more rapid responses to change; 5) have smaller home ranges and are more abundant, making it easier to investigate fine-scale management interventions; 6) are easier to monitor, manage, and manipulate. Therefore, we advocate for incorporating a middle-out approach, in addition to the established top-down and bottom-up approaches, to assessing the responses of ecosystems to global change. © 2022 The Authors. Mammal Review published by Mammal Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
... The relatively frequent occurrence of feline hybridization between the African wildcat and a broad spectrum of domestic cat breeds is a well-recognized phenomenon, that has given rise to several unidentified cat hybrids in South Africa. This hybridization process has been linked to uncontrolled human population growth that has resulted in severe fragmentations of natural habitats with the subsequent introduction of domesticated animal species [30]. We suggest that this phenomenon has dual implications, not only for public health, but also for the conservation of threatened species. ...
... Although both the wildcat and the common genet belong to the suborder Feliformia, they are phenotypically and genetically differentiated into two families. Important eco-epizootiological differences among the two host species include the higher opportunity for a wildcat to come into contact with domestic cats, and potentially hybridize [30], a phenomenon mainly enhanced by human encroachment. These two revisited hosts' identifications underline the complexity and poorly explored epizootiology of the Africa 3 clade RABV. ...
Accurate host identification is paramount to understand disease epidemiology and to apply appropriate control measures. This is especially important for multi-host pathogens such as the rabies virus, a major and almost invariably fatal zoonosis that has mobilized unanimous engagement at an international level towards the final goal of zero human deaths due to canine rabies. Currently, diagnostic laboratories implement a standardized identification using taxonomic keys. However, this method is challenged by high and undiscovered biodiversity, decomposition of carcasses and subjective misevaluation, as has been attested to by findings from a cohort of 242 archived specimens collected across Sub-Saharan Africa and submitted for rabies diagnosis. We applied two simple and cheap methods targeting the Cytochrome b and Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I to confirm the initial classification. We therefore suggest prioritizing a standardized protocol that includes, as a first step, the implementation of taxonomic keys at a family or subfamily level, followed by the molecular characterization of the host species.
... Untersuchungen zu lokalen Bedrohungen wären erforderlich, um Schutzmaßnahmen zu identifizieren(Mattucci et al., 2019).In den Randgebieten der Wildkatzenverbreitung wurde Hybridisierung häufiger festgestellt was vor allem auf die vermehrte Ausbreitung der Wildkatze in den letzten Jahren zurückzuführen ist und weniger auf ein Eindringen der Hauskatze in die Gebiete der Wildkatzen(Nussberger et al., 2018). Wie bereits bei Afrikanischen Wildkatzen festgestellt(Le Roux et al., 2015) dürften Schutzzonen, Managementmaßnahmen und entsprechendes ...
The impact of domestic cats on vertebrates is now known globally - they are a major risk for endangered and threatened species. Hybridization of domestic and wild cats must also not go unnoticed, so there are already studies across Europe with differentiated results on this. Especially in the last decades, however, the domestic cat has become an increasingly popular pet throughout the western world, and its numbers continue to increase, which can lead to unnaturally high densities in settlements, for example.
To summarize the current state of knowledge on this topic we supplemented the previously published report of Hackländer et al. (2014) with current data and literature. In particular, the topics of hybridization, potential management measures, legal framework and food analyses, which specifically address the impact of domestic cats on biodiversity, were considered in an expanded manner. The research revealed the need for action on the topic, which should not be underestimated, and the necessity of both the acceptance of personal responsibility and the consistent implementation of given political frameworks.
The paper appeared in the BOKU Berichte zur Wildtierforschung und Wildbewirtschaftung and is available online.
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