Biochemical genetic relationships among Tunisian hares (Lepus sp.), South African cape hares (L. capensis), and European brown hares (L. europaeus)

Tunisian hares (n = 45), currently assigned to Lepus capensis, were assayed for allelic variation at 40 allozyme loci, and allele frequencies at 32 loci were directly compared with earlier data of South African cape hares (L. capensis, n = 9) and European brown hares (L. europaeus, n = 244) to revea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biochemical genetics 2005-12, Vol.43 (11-12), p.577-596
Main Authors: Ben Slimen, Hichem, Suchentrunk, Franz, Memmi, Abdelmajid, Ben Ammar Elgaaied, Amel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal populations
Animals
Conspecifics
Data processing
Differentiation
Europe
Gene Frequency
Gene pool
Genetic distance
Genetic diversity
Genetic relationship
Genetic Variation
Hares - genetics
Isoenzymes
Lepus
Lepus capensis
Lepus europaeus
Local population
Molecular Biology
Multidimensional scaling
Phylogeny
Savannahs
South Africa
Species Specificity
Tunisia
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Summary:Tunisian hares (n = 45), currently assigned to Lepus capensis, were assayed for allelic variation at 40 allozyme loci, and allele frequencies at 32 loci were directly compared with earlier data of South African cape hares (L. capensis, n = 9) and European brown hares (L. europaeus, n = 244) to reveal genetic relationships among them. European mountain hares (L. timidus, n = 200) were used for outgroup comparison. In the Tunisian hares 27.5% of the loci were polymorphic with 2-4 alleles. Among all alleles at polymorphic loci, 15.1% occurred exclusively in Tunisian hares, 5.7% exclusively in cape hares, and 7.5% exclusively in brown hares at low frequencies. Not a single locus showed alternately fixed alleles between the samples of the L. capensis/L. europaeus complex. Levels of absolute and relative genetic differentiation among the samples of the L. capensis/L. europaeus complex were low, relative to pairwise comparisons involving mountain hares. Diverse cluster analyses and multidimensional scaling of various pairwise genetic distance matrices concordantly grouped Tunisian hares with brown hares, and South African cape hares clustered only slightly farther apart, whereas mountain hares were distinctly separate. These results suggest regionally distinct phylogenetic units within an overall cohesive gene pool in the L. capensis/L. europaeus complex, supporting Petter's view that all North African hares belong to L. capensis except for one local population of savanna hares, and that cape hares and brown hares are conspecific.
ISSN:0006-2928
1573-4927
DOI:10.1007/s10528-005-9115-6