GOOD ZOO
New genetic data bodes well for California's comeback condorsIssued on: 13/05/2021
One of the two California Condors (Gymnoyips Californianus) donated by the San Diego Zoo in California to the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City OMAR TORRES AFP
Washington (AFP)
Despite numbering only a few hundred individuals, Californian condors have retained a surprisingly high degree of genetic diversity, a new study said Thursday.
The authors of the paper, published in the journal Current Biology, said the findings bode well for future restoration plans of the critically endangered species.
Californian condors, the largest land bird in North America, went briefly extinct in the wild, with only 22 individuals living in captivity by 1982.
Today, there are some 300 condors in the wild and another 200 are in captivity.
"We estimated that prior to 10,000 years ago, there were tens of thousands of condors," said lead author Jacqueline Robinson of the University of California, San Francisco.
"The relatively high level of diversity in condors today is a legacy of their high historical population sizes."
Known for their enormous wingspans of up to three meters (9.8 feet), the scavengers can weigh a hefty 12 kilograms (26 pounds) and live up to 60 years.
Robinson said the genome results accord with what is known from the fossil record -- that the ancestors of California condors once ranged across the contiguous United States.
"Over time, the condor's range shrank until they only persisted along the Pacific coast, where they were able to incorporate the carcasses of large marine mammals into their diet," she said.
Condor numbers declined dramatically in the 20th century because of lead poisoning, poaching, and loss of habitat.
The researchers set out to learn more about their long term history by studying their genomes, and comparing that to two close relatives, the Andean condor and the turkey vulture.
They found evidence that all three had long term historic population declines, predating the 20th century -- but attributed the high variation of the California condor genome today to the bird's historical abundance.
Co-author Cynthia Steiner of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said the team plans to extend their research to learn more about the impacts of inbreeding in the population and how it may have affected genetic diseases, such as abnormal skeletal growth and fourteen-tail feather syndrome (two more than normal).
© 2021 AFP
Washington (AFP)
Despite numbering only a few hundred individuals, Californian condors have retained a surprisingly high degree of genetic diversity, a new study said Thursday.
The authors of the paper, published in the journal Current Biology, said the findings bode well for future restoration plans of the critically endangered species.
Californian condors, the largest land bird in North America, went briefly extinct in the wild, with only 22 individuals living in captivity by 1982.
Today, there are some 300 condors in the wild and another 200 are in captivity.
"We estimated that prior to 10,000 years ago, there were tens of thousands of condors," said lead author Jacqueline Robinson of the University of California, San Francisco.
"The relatively high level of diversity in condors today is a legacy of their high historical population sizes."
Known for their enormous wingspans of up to three meters (9.8 feet), the scavengers can weigh a hefty 12 kilograms (26 pounds) and live up to 60 years.
Robinson said the genome results accord with what is known from the fossil record -- that the ancestors of California condors once ranged across the contiguous United States.
"Over time, the condor's range shrank until they only persisted along the Pacific coast, where they were able to incorporate the carcasses of large marine mammals into their diet," she said.
Condor numbers declined dramatically in the 20th century because of lead poisoning, poaching, and loss of habitat.
The researchers set out to learn more about their long term history by studying their genomes, and comparing that to two close relatives, the Andean condor and the turkey vulture.
They found evidence that all three had long term historic population declines, predating the 20th century -- but attributed the high variation of the California condor genome today to the bird's historical abundance.
Co-author Cynthia Steiner of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said the team plans to extend their research to learn more about the impacts of inbreeding in the population and how it may have affected genetic diseases, such as abnormal skeletal growth and fourteen-tail feather syndrome (two more than normal).
© 2021 AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment