2018/12/10 by Elizabeth Heppenheimer, Kristin E. Brzeski, R. C. Wooten +6 · 4 citations
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Genetic diversity and population structure #Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
paper · pdf · doi:10.3390/genes9120618
openalex publication_date 2018/12/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Rediscovering species once thought to be extinct or on the edge of extinction is rare. Red wolves have been extinct along the American Gulf Coast since 1980, with their last populations found in coastal Louisiana and Texas. We report the rediscovery of red wolf ghost alleles in a canid population on Galveston Island, Texas. We analyzed over 7000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 60 canid representatives from all legally recognized North American Canis species and two phenotypically ambiguous canids from Galveston Island. We found notably high Bayesian cluster assignments of the Galveston canids to captive red wolves with extensive sharing of red wolf private alleles. Today, the only known extant wild red wolves persist in a reintroduced population in North Carolina, which is dwindling amongst political and taxonomic controversy. Our rediscovery of red wolf ancestry after almost 40 years introduces both positive opportunities for additional conservation action and difficult policy challenges.