Abstract
Dingoes play a strong role in Australia’s ecological framework as the apex predator but are under threat from hybridization and agricultural control programs. Government legislation lists the conservation of the dingo as an important aim, yet little is known about the biogeography of this enigmatic canine, making conservation difficult. Mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA studies show evidence of population structure within the dingo. Here, we present the data from Illumina HD canine chip genotyping for 23 dingoes from five regional populations, and five New Guinea Singing Dogs to further explore patterns of biogeography using genome-wide data. Whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data supported the presence of three distinct dingo populations (or ESUs) subject to geographical subdivision: southeastern (SE), Fraser Island (FI) and northwestern (NW). These ESUs should be managed discretely. The FI dingoes are a known reservoir of pure, genetically distinct dingoes. Elevated inbreeding coefficients identified here suggest this population may be genetically compromised and in need of rescue; current lethal management strategies that do not consider genetic information should be suspended until further data can be gathered. D statistics identify evidence of historical admixture or ancestry sharing between southeastern dingoes and South East Asian village dogs. Conservation efforts on mainland Australia should focus on the SE dingo population that is under pressure from domestic dog hybridization and high levels of lethal control. Further data concerning the genetic health, demographics and prevalence of hybridization in the SE and FI dingo populations is urgently needed to develop evidence based conservation and management strategies.
Highlights
Dingoes are controversial in Australia; like many other top-order carnivores, dingoes pose a risk to livestock and are extensively managed in the livestock grazing regions of southeastern Australia [1]
We focus on patterns of genetic diversity in 23 dingoes sampled from five geographical populations across Australia and using nearly 60,000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) to improve our understanding of population structure and genetic diversity in this unique canid
A total of 58,512 autosomal SNPs remained after filtering
Summary
Dingoes are controversial in Australia; like many other top-order carnivores, dingoes pose a risk to livestock and are extensively managed in the livestock grazing regions of southeastern Australia [1]. As the mainland top-level predator, dingoes play a strong role in shaping the ecosystems of Australia [7, 9,10,11] They have been observed to exert top-down control on large herbivores such as kangaroos, wallabies and emu [12,13,14,15,16,17] and may play a role in indirectly protecting native small-medium body weight marsupials [18,19,20]. They may reduce the impact of introduced feral mesopredator pests such as foxes and cats through suppression, exclusion and direct predation [17, 21,22,23,24,25,26]
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