Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Molecular genetic variation across the southern and eastern geographic ranges of the African lion, Panthera leo

  • Published:
Conservation Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We examined sequence variation in the mitochondrial cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 genes (2,360 bp total) for 26 lions from eleven locations throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Six distinct haplotypes were observed in the combined sequences, forming two clades: the eastern and the western savannas. The Uganda-Western Kenya haplotype grouped at a basal position with the eastern clade of lions from Tsavo south to the Transvaal and Natal regions. The phylogenetic position of the haplotype from Sabi Sands in the southern part of Kruger National Park remained poorly resolved. The haplotypes found in Namibia and Botswana formed the western clade. The modest genetic variation documented here argues against taxonomic distinctions among living African lions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • GM Allen (1939) ArticleTitleA checklist of African mammals Bull. Mus. Compar. Zool. 83 1–763

    Google Scholar 

  • KA Alexander PW Kat LA Munson A Kalake JJ Appel (1996) ArticleTitleCanine distemper-related mortality among wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in Chobe National Park, Botswana J. Zoo. Wildlife Med. 27 426–427

    Google Scholar 

  • JL Anderson (1980) ArticleTitleThe re-establishment and management of a lion Panthera leo population in Zululand, South Africa Biol. Conserv. 19 107–117

    Google Scholar 

  • P Arctander C Johansen M Coutellec-Vreto (1999) ArticleTitlePhylogeography of three closely related African bovids (Tribe Alcelaphini) Mol. Biol. Evol. 16 1724–1739

    Google Scholar 

  • R Arnason K Bodin A Gullberg C Ledje S Mouchaty (1995) ArticleTitleA molecular view of pinniped relationships with particular emphasis on the true seals J. Mol. Evol 40 78–85

    Google Scholar 

  • ORP Bininda-Emonds DP Vazquez LL Manne (2000) ArticleTitleThe calculus of biodiversity: integrating phylogeny and conservation Trend Ecol. Evol. 15 92–94

    Google Scholar 

  • DC Blood JA Henderson OM Radostits (1979) Veterinary Medicine EditionNumber5 Lea and Febiger Philadelphia 3–27

    Google Scholar 

  • SM Brown BA Houlden (2000) ArticleTitleConservation genetics of the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) Conserv. Genet. 1 365–370

    Google Scholar 

  • G Coheleach (1982) The Big Cats: The Paintings of Guy Coheleach Harry N. Abrams Inc. New York

    Google Scholar 

  • J Cracraft J Feinstein J Vaughn K Helm-Bychowski (1998) ArticleTitleSorting out tigers (Panthera tigris): Mitochondrial sequences, nuclear inserts, systematics, and conservation genetics Animal Conserv. 1 139–150

    Google Scholar 

  • KA Crandall ORP Bininda-Emonds GM Mace RK Wayne (2000) ArticleTitleConsidering evolutionary processes in conservation biology Trends Ecol. Evol. 15 290–295

    Google Scholar 

  • JR Ellerman TCS Morrison-Scott RW Hayman (1953) Southern African Mammals 1758–1951: a Reclassification British Museum (Natural History) London

    Google Scholar 

  • DG Elliot (1897) ArticleTitleLists of mammals from Somali-land obtained by the museum’s East African expedition Field Columbian Museum 19 109–155

    Google Scholar 

  • L Excoffier PE Smouse JM Quattro (1992) ArticleTitleAnalysis of molecular variance inferred from metric distances among DNA haplotypes: application to human mitochondrial DNA restriction data Genetics 131 479–491 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK38XlsVCntro%3D Occurrence Handle1644282

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • J Felsenstein (1988) ArticleTitlePhylogenies from molecular sequences: Inference and reliability Ann. Rev. Genet. 22 521–565

    Google Scholar 

  • A Freeman D Machugh S Mckeown C Walzer D Mcconnell D Bradley (2001) ArticleTitleSequence variation in the mitochondrial DNA control region of wild African cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) Heredity 86 355–362

    Google Scholar 

  • N Georgiadis L Bischof A Templeton J Patton W Karesh D Western (1994) ArticleTitleStructure and history of African elephant populations: I. Eastern and southern Africa J. Hered. 85 100–104

    Google Scholar 

  • DA Gilbert C Packer AE Pusey JC Stephens SJ O’Brien (1991) ArticleTitleAnalytical DNA fingerprinting in lions: Parentage, genetic diversity, and kinship J. Hered. 82 378–386

    Google Scholar 

  • D Girman C Vila E Geffen S Creel M Mills J McNutt J Ginsberg P Kat K Mamiya R Wayne (2001) ArticleTitlePatterns of population subdivision, gene flow and genetic variability in the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) Mol. Ecol. 10 1703–1723

    Google Scholar 

  • CAW Guggisberg (1961) Simba, the Life of the Lion Howard Timmins Capetown, South Africa

    Google Scholar 

  • RD Guthrie (1990) Frozen Fauna of the Mammoth Steppe: The Story of Blue Babe University of Chicago Press Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • B Hallgrimsson V Maiorana (2000) ArticleTitleVariability and size in mammals and birds Biological J. Linn Soci. 70 571–595

    Google Scholar 

  • JP Hanby JD Bygott (1979) Population Changes in Lions and Other Predators ARE Sinclair M Norton-Griffiths (Eds) Serengeti: Dynamics of an Ecosystem University of Chicago Press Chicago 249–262

    Google Scholar 

  • H Hemmer (1974) ArticleTitleZur Artgeschichte des Lowen Panthera (Panthera) leo (Linnaeus, 1758) Veroff. Zool. Staatssamml. Munchen 17 167–280

    Google Scholar 

  • AR Hoelzel JV Lopez GA Dover SJ O’Brien (1994) ArticleTitleRapid evolution of a heteroplasmic repetitive sequence in the mitochondrial DNA control region of carnivores J. Mol. Evol. 39 191–199

    Google Scholar 

  • N Hollister (1917) ArticleTitleSome effects of environment and habit on captive lions Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus. 53 177–193

    Google Scholar 

  • DM Irwin TD Kocher AC Wilson (1991) ArticleTitleEvolution of the cytochrome b gene of mammals J. Mol. Evol. 32 128–144

    Google Scholar 

  • DN Janczewski WS Modi JC Stephens SJ O’Brien (1995) ArticleTitleMolecular evolution of 12S RNA and cytochrome b sequences in the pantherine lineage of Felidae Mol. Biol. Evol. 12 690–707

    Google Scholar 

  • PW Kat KA Alexander JS Smith L Munson (1995) ArticleTitleRabies and African wild dogs in Kenya Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Ser B 262 229–233

    Google Scholar 

  • J Kingdon (1997) The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals Academic Press San Diego, California

    Google Scholar 

  • S Kumar K Tamura N. Nei (1993) MEGA: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis. Vs. 1.02 Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania

    Google Scholar 

  • BS Lieberman ES Vrba (1995) ArticleTitleHierarchy theory, selection, and sorting BioScience 45 394–399

    Google Scholar 

  • JV Lopez N Yuhki R Masuda WS Modi SJ O’Brien (1994) ArticleTitleNumt, a recent transfer and tandem amplification of mitochondrial DNA to the nuclear genome of the domestic cat J. Mol. Evol. 39 174–190

    Google Scholar 

  • JV Lopez S Cevario SJ O’Brien (1996) ArticleTitleComplete nucleotide sequence of the domestic cat (Felis catus) mitochondrial genome and a transposed mtDNA tandem repeat (Numt) in the nuclear genome Genomics 33 229–246

    Google Scholar 

  • AJ Loveridge T Lyman DW Macdonald (2002) Lion Conservation Research Workshop 2: Modeling Conflict Wildlife Conservation Research Unit Oxford 98

    Google Scholar 

  • A Maddock A Anderson F Carlisle N Galli A James A Verster W Whitfield (1996) ArticleTitleChanges in lion numbers in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park Lammergeyer 44 6–18

    Google Scholar 

  • V Mazák (1970) ArticleTitleThe Barbary lion, Panthera leo leo (Linnaeus, 1758); some systematic notes, and an interim list of the specimens preserved in European museums Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 35 34–44

    Google Scholar 

  • V Mazák (1975) Notes on the Black-maned Lion of the Cape, Panthera leo melanochaita (Ch. H. Smith, 1842) and a Revised List of the Preserved Specimens North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam London

    Google Scholar 

  • Meester JAJ, Setzer HW (1971, as revised 1977) The Mammals of Africa. An Identification Manual. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

  • M Moore (1999) New Hluhluwe Lions Face Probable Death African Eye News Service South Africa

    Google Scholar 

  • M Nei (1996) ArticleTitlePhylogenetic analysis in molecular evolutionary genetics Ann. Rev. Genet. 30 371–403

    Google Scholar 

  • LG Nersting P Arctander (2001) ArticleTitlePhylogeography and conservation of impala and greater kudu Mol. Ecol. 10 711–720

    Google Scholar 

  • SJ O’Brien JS Martenson C Packer L Herbst VD Vos P Joslin J Ott-Joslin et al. (1987) ArticleTitleBiochemical genetic variation in geographic isolates of African and Asiatic lions Natl. Geog. Res. 3 114–124

    Google Scholar 

  • BD Patterson (2004) The Lions of Tsavo: Exploring the Legacy of Africa’s Notorious Maneaters McGraw-Hill New York

    Google Scholar 

  • JH Patterson (1927) The Man-eaters of Tsavo and other African Adventures The Macmillan Company New York

    Google Scholar 

  • C Pitra A Hansen D Lieckfeldt P Arctander (2002) ArticleTitleAn exceptional case of historical outbreeding in African sable antelope populations Mol. Ecol. 11 1197–1208

    Google Scholar 

  • AE Pusey C Packer (1987) ArticleTitleThe evolution of sex-biased dispersal in lions Behavior 101 275–310

    Google Scholar 

  • M Roelke-Parker L Munson C Packer R Kock SJ O’Brien A Pospischil R Hofmann-Lehmann H Lutz GLM Mwamemgele MN Mgasa GA Machange BA Summers MJG Appel (1996) ArticleTitleA canine distemper epidemic in serengeti lions (Panthera leo) Nature 379 441–445

    Google Scholar 

  • A Rzhetsky N Nei (1992) ArticleTitleA simple method for estimating and testing minimum-evolution trees Mol. Biol. Evol. 9 945–967

    Google Scholar 

  • J Sambrook EF Fritsch T Maniatis (1989) Molecular Cloning a Laboratory Manual.(2nd edn) Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press New York

    Google Scholar 

  • GB Schaller (1972) The Serengeti Lion; a Study of Predator–prey Relations: Wildlife Behavior and Ecology University of Chicago Press Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • S Schneider D Roessli L Excoffier (2000) Arlequin, Version 2.000: a Software for Population Genetics Data Analysis. Genetics and Biometry Laboratory University of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • P Shankaranarayanan L Singh (1998) ArticleTitleMitochondrial DNA sequence divergence among big cats and their hybrids Current Science 75 919–923

    Google Scholar 

  • GL Smuts (1978) ArticleTitleEffects of population reduction on the travels and reproduction of lions in Kruger National Park Carnivore 1 17–28

    Google Scholar 

  • G Spong J Stone S Creel M Björklund (2002) ArticleTitleGenetic structure of lions (Panthera leo L.) in the Selous Game Reserve: implications for the evolution of sociality J. Evol. Biol. 15 945–953

    Google Scholar 

  • MKJ Swart JWH Ferguson (1997) ArticleTitleConservation implications of genetic differentiation in southern African populations of black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) Conserv. Biol. 11 79–83

    Google Scholar 

  • DL Swofford (1998) PAUP*. Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (*and Other Methods). V.4. Sinauer Associates Sunderland Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  • N Takezaki A Rzhetsky M Nei (1995) ArticleTitlePhylogenetic test of the molecular clock and linearized trees Mol. Biol. Evol. 12 823–833

    Google Scholar 

  • AR Templeton NJ Georgiadis (1996) A landscape approach to conservation genetics: Conserving evolutionary processes in the African bovidae J Avise J Hamrich (Eds) Conservation Genetics: Case Histories from Nature Chapman & Hall New York 398–430

    Google Scholar 

  • AJ Tosi JC Morales DJ Melnick (2000) ArticleTitleComparison of Y chromosome and mtDNA phylogenies leads to unique inferences of macaque evolutionary history Mol. Phylo. Evol. 17 133–144

    Google Scholar 

  • WF Hooft ParticleVan AF Groen HHT Prins (2002) ArticleTitlePhylogeography of the African buffalo based on mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal loci: Pleistoncene origin and population expansion of the Cape buffalo subspecies Mol. Ecol. 11 267–279

    Google Scholar 

  • NK Vereshchagin (1971) ArticleTitleThe cave lion and its history in the Holoarctic and on the territory of the USSR Trudy Zool. Inst. Akad. Nauk. SSSR 49 123–197

    Google Scholar 

  • PM West C Packer (2002) ArticleTitleSexual selection, temperature, and the lion’s mane Science 297 1339–1343

    Google Scholar 

  • JFV Wolffe (1955) Mammals of Ethiopia and Principal Reptiles Rhodesian Litho, Salisbury Southern Rhodesia

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Conservation Biology, Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Conservation Biology and Research Center, Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield, IL, 60513, USA

    Jean Dubach

  2. Department of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605-2496, USA

    B. D. Patterson & R. W. Kays

  3. Department of Veterinary Services, Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield, IL, 60513, USA

    M. B. Briggs

  4. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Namibia

    K. Venzke, P. Stander & L. Scheepers

  5. Natal Parks Board, Republic of South Africa

    J. Flamand

  6. Research & Collections, New York State Museum, CEC 3140, Albany, NY, 12230, USA

    R. W. Kays

Authors
  1. Jean Dubach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. B. D. Patterson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. B. Briggs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. K. Venzke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. Flamand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. P. Stander
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. L. Scheepers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. R. W. Kays
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean Dubach.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dubach, J., Patterson, B.D., Briggs, M.B. et al. Molecular genetic variation across the southern and eastern geographic ranges of the African lion, Panthera leo. Conserv Genet 6, 15–24 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-004-7729-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-004-7729-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation