@article{d7eecfd25f7a4f098920cca38fab49d9,
title = "Novel mitochondrial haplotype of spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) present on Kangaroo Island (South Australia) prior to extirpation",
abstract = "Spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus) – cat-sized, carnivorous marsupials – occupied Kangaroo Island (KI), South Australia, for over 50,000 years but became locally extinct following European settlement of the island in 1836. As the largest mammalian predator on KI when the Europeans colonised it, spotted-tailed quolls would have played a significant role in maintaining healthy ecosystem function. The reintroduction of spotted-tailed quolls to KI could redress some of these ecological benefits and would establish a refuge population of the species, which is considered endangered by the Australian government. However, before a reintroduction could be considered, the genetic relationship between KI{\textquoteright}s spotted-tailed quolls and the currently recognised extant subspecies needs to be established. While subspecies are difficult to differentiate by skeletal morphology, they are genetically distinct. Here, we extracted ancient DNA from five left dentaries excavated from Kelly Hill Cave (KI) that were morphologically identified as D. maculatus. Following genetic confirmation of these identifications, we sequenced a 450-bp region of the mitochondrial D-loop to determine the subspecific genetic affiliation(s) of KI{\textquoteright}s D. maculatus, and therefore the subspecies that may be the most appropriate candidate for reintroduction. We find that all five specimens are most closely related to the Tasmanian subspecies, but form a distinct monophyletic clade that may represent a new subspecies. Further research (including genotyping spotted-tailed quoll specimens from mainland South Australia and Western Victoria) is required before decisions are made regarding the sourcing of individuals for reintroduction to KI.",
keywords = "conservation, extinction, extirpation, fossil, mitochondria, next-generation sequencing, reintroduction, sub-fossil, tiger quoll",
author = "Alicia Grealy and Matthew McDowell and Clancy Retallick and Michael Bunce and David Peacock",
note = "Funding Information: Dasyurus maculatus ) present on Kangaroo Island (South Australia) prior to extirpation https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1533-0144 Grealy Alicia 1 2 McDowell Matthew 3 4 Retallick Clancy 5 Bunce Michael 1 Peacock David 6 1 Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Science, Curtin University, Australia 2 Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Australia 3 College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Australia 4 Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Australia 5 Softfoot Marsupial Sanctuary, Australia 6 Faculty of Sciences, School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Australia Alicia Grealy, Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia. Email: alicia.grealy@uqconnect.edu.au 9 2019 0959683619875805 23 3 2019 15 7 2019 {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2019 2019 SAGE Publications Spotted-tailed quolls ( Dasyurus maculatus ) – cat-sized, carnivorous marsupials – occupied Kangaroo Island (KI), South Australia, for over 50,000 years but became locally extinct following European settlement of the island in 1836. As the largest mammalian predator on KI when the Europeans colonised it, spotted-tailed quolls would have played a significant role in maintaining healthy ecosystem function. The reintroduction of spotted-tailed quolls to KI could redress some of these ecological benefits and would establish a refuge population of the species, which is considered endangered by the Australian government. However, before a reintroduction could be considered, the genetic relationship between KI{\textquoteright}s spotted-tailed quolls and the currently recognised extant subspecies needs to be established. While subspecies are difficult to differentiate by skeletal morphology, they are genetically distinct. Here, we extracted ancient DNA from five left dentaries excavated from Kelly Hill Cave (KI) that were morphologically identified as D. maculatus . Following genetic confirmation of these identifications, we sequenced a 450-bp region of the mitochondrial D-loop to determine the subspecific genetic affiliation(s) of KI{\textquoteright}s D. maculatus , and therefore the subspecies that may be the most appropriate candidate for reintroduction. We find that all five specimens are most closely related to the Tasmanian subspecies, but form a distinct monophyletic clade that may represent a new subspecies. Further research (including genotyping spotted-tailed quoll specimens from mainland South Australia and Western Victoria) is required before decisions are made regarding the sourcing of individuals for reintroduction to KI. conservation extinction extirpation fossil mitochondria next-generation sequencing reintroduction sub-fossil tiger quoll Australian Research Council https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000923 DP160104473 Softfoot Marsupial Sanctuary edited-state corrected-proof The authors thank Frederik Seersholm for a critical reading of the manuscript. Author contributions The study was conceived by DP and MM. Bone was excavated and identified by MM. Modern quoll fur was provided by CR. AG designed and conducted the genetic experiments. AG analysed the data. AG wrote the manuscript with contributions from all the authors. Declaration of conflicting interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The author(s) received the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: The study was supported financially by Softfoot Sanctuary and an Australian Research Council grant (DP160104473) awarded to MB. ORCID iD Alicia Grealy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1533-0144 Data accessibility statement The DNA sequences have been deposited on GenBank (accession numbers: TBA). Data generated can be accessed through DataDryad at doi: TBA. Correspondence and requests for material should be addressed to AG ( alicia.grealy@uqconnect.edu.au ). Supplemental material Supplemental material for this article is available online. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2019.",
year = "2020",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1177/0959683619875805",
language = "English",
volume = "30",
pages = "136--144",
journal = "Holocene",
issn = "0959-6836",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "1",
}