The genetic legacy of the 19th-century decline of the British polecat: evidence for extensive introgression from feral ferrets

摘要: In the 19th century, British polecat suffered a demographic contraction, as consequence of direct persecution, reaching its lowest population in years that preceded First World War. The is now recovering and expanding throughout Britain, but introgressive hybridization with feral ferrets has been reported, which could be masking true range introducing domestic genes into species. We used fragment mitochondrial DNA control region 11 microsatellite loci to characterize frequency extent introgression between two species assess whether 19th-century decline corresponded genetic bottleneck polecat. proportion admixture detected wild was high (31%) hybrids were more frequently found outside Wales, suggesting likely occur along eastern edge polecat's expansion. patterns observed nuclear data show mediated by crosses male polecats female ferrets, whose offspring backcrossed polecats. No first-generation (F1) identified, broad proportions agrees scenario past extensive Using several different methods investigate history, we did not find consistent evidence for polecat, result interpreted ferrets. Our results highlight importance Welsh conservation restoration identity