Origin of European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in a Mediterranean island: Zooarchaeology and ancient DNA examination (original) (raw)
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Ancient DNA from Bronze Age bones of European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Experientia, 1994
The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is now widely distributed throughout the world as a result of transportation by man. The original populations, however, were confined to southern France and Spain. In order to investigate the role of human intervention in determining the genetic diversity of rabbit populations, we are studying the origin of rabbits introduced onto a small Mediterranean island (Zembra) near Tunis over 1400 years ago, by examining ancient DNA extracted from rabbit bones found both on Zembra and on the European mainland. Ancient DNA was successfully extracted from rabbit bones found at two archaeological sites dated to at least the Early Bronze Age (more than 3500 years ago) in south-central France, and compared to that found in modern mainland and island populations using a small variable region of the cytochrome b gene. The results confirm that the Zembra Island population is descended from that present over 1400 years ago. The technical aspects of DNA extraction from bones and the implications of this type of research for determining the origin of introduced rabbit populations are discussed.
Rabbit mitochondrial DNA diversity from prehistoric to modern times
Journal of Molecular Evolution, 1995
The mitochondrial genetic variability in European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations present in Europe and North Africa from 11,000 years ago to the present day has been analyzed using ancient DNA techniques. DNA was extracted from 90 rabbit bones found in 22 archaeological sites dated between the Mesolithic and recent times. Nucleotide sequences present in a variable 233-bp domain of the cytochrome b gene were compared to those present in modern-day rabbits. The results show that the structure of ancient populations of wild rabbit exhibited remarkable stability over time until the Middle Ages. At this time, a novel type of mtDNA molecule abruptly appears into most wild populations studied from France. This mtDNA type corresponds to that currently present in the domestic breeds of rabbit examined so far. The relative rapidity by which this mtDNA type established and its absence in all sites examined before 1,700 years ago lend support to the hypothesis that between 2,000 and 1,000 years ago, man may have favored the development, into all regions of France, of animals carrying this particular mtDNA molecule. The origin of such animals has still to be found: animals previously living outside of France or within France but in very restricted areas? This event was concomitant with the documented establishment of warrens after the tenth century A.D. in Europe.
World Rabbit Science
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and cytochrome b (cyt b) gene sequences were used to determine the status of genetic diversity and phylogeny for 132 individuals from local rabbit breeds in Egypt and Spain. The Egyptian local rabbit breeds were Egyptian Red Baladi (ERB), Egyptian Black Baladi (EBB) and Egyptian Gabali Sinai (EGS). However, the Spanish local rabbit breed was Spanish common rabbit (SCR). Previous breeds were compared with European Wild Rabbit taken from Albacete, Spain (EWR). A total of 353 mutations, 290 polymorphic sites, 14 haplotypes, 0.06126 haplotype diversity and -1.900 (<em>P</em><0.05) for Tajima’s D were defined in this study. Haplotype A mostly occurred in 83.3% of Egyptian rabbits and 11.7% of EWR, while haplotype B occurred in 63.8% of Spanish rabbits and 36.2% of the EGS breed. A total of 47 domestic and wild <em>Oryctolagus cuniculus</em> published sequences were used to investigate the origin and relation among the rabbit breeds te...
Evolution, 2002
Nested clade analysis was applied to cytochrome b restriction site data previously obtained on 20 natural populations of the European rabbit across the Iberian Peninsula to test the hypothesis of postglacial dispersal from two main refugia, one in the northeast and the other in the southwest. Apart from historical fragmentation that resulted in geographic discontinuity of two distinct mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) clades A and B, patterns of haplotype genetic variability have been shaped mostly by restricted gene flow via isolation by distance. The distribution of tip versus interior haplotypes suggests that dispersal occurred from both the southwestern and northeastern groups. Dispersal from the southwest had a north and northwest direction, whereas from the northeast it had mostly a western and southern orientation, with subsequent overlap in a southeastern-northwestern axis across the Iberian Peninsula. The analysis of the pairwise mismatch distribution of a 179-181-bp fragment of the mtDNA control region, for seven of those populations, further supports the idea that major patterns of dispersal were in the direction of central Iberia. Additionally, rabbit populations do not show signs of any significant loss of genetic diversity in the recent past, implying that they maintained large population sizes and structure throughout the ice ages. This is congruent with the fact that the Iberian Peninsula was itself a glacial refugium during Quaternary ice ages. Nonetheless, climatic oscillations of this period, although certainly milder than in northern Europe, were sufficient to affect the range distributions of Iberian organisms.
Lagomorph Biology, 2008
The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a well-known species all over the world and occurs in both wild and domestic forms. European rabbits are present in most of Europe, North Africa, parts of South America, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in more than 800 islands, where they occupy a huge variety of ecosystems (Thompson and King 1994). Its domestic counterpart exhibits a remarkable variety of breeds showing variation in colour, size and fertility. Domestic breeds are kept and raised globally for meat, wool and fur, and also as increasing popular pets. However, for most of its history, the European rabbit was confined to the Iberian Peninsula where the species is supposed to have emerged in the mid-Pleistocene. We know this from the analysis of the fossil record that in addition, places also in the Iberian Peninsula the emergence of genus Oryctolagus (Lopez-Martinez 2008, this book). The subsequent geographical expansion and successful colonization of multiple territories is as recent as historical times and has been mostly human-mediated. This expansion eventually ended in a domestication process that is unique to Western Europe. While the fossil record together with much more recent historical documents attesting the origin and recent expansion of the European rabbit provide us with a rough picture of the history of the species, the fact is that in both cases they are represented by scarce and spotty information. This in turn prevents a deeper understanding of the rich and unique evolutionary history of the rabbit species. An alternative way to address questions related to this subject is the analysis of genetic data. In fact, the history of species, including their split from sister taxa, historical population subdivisions, expansions and contractions, and other types of demographic events, leave a signature in their genomes that can be assessed by using a combination of molecular biology tools and statistical inference procedures. This is particularly true in the last few years, which witnessed the dramatic development
Heredity, 2000
We studied mitochondrial DNA variation in the European rabbit through the examination of restriction fragment length polymorphism in 526 individuals from 20 locations spread across the Iberian Peninsula. Digestion with eight enzymes of a 1120-bp fragment comprising most of the cytochrome b gene resolved 38 dierent haplotypes. These haplotypes were distributed in two highly divergent clades, with dierent but overlapping geographical distributions, and with comparable levels of within-clade variation. The overall phylogeographical pattern suggests a history of long-term regional isolation of two groups of rabbit populations, compatible with the recognition of two subspecies within the Iberian Peninsula, followed by recent contact and admixture. The underlying cause is sought in the alternation of glacial and interglacial periods in the late Pleistocene.
Phylogeography of Southern European Refugia: EVOLUATIONARY PERSPECTIVE ON THE ORIGINS AND CONSERVATION OF EUROPEAN BIODIVERSITY, 2007
The patterns of population differentiation and geographical expansion of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) remain largely unknown. Using gene frequency data for 20 polymorphic protein loci (102 alleles), we investigated the evolutionary history of the rabbit through the analysis of 13 representative populations and the use of both the neighbor-joining (NJ) and the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) trees. We also conducted a separate analysis comparing one domestic and one wild population with previously published results. Our data indicate that an ancient split separated southwestern Iberian populations from all others, including domestic breeds, and that this division may have corresponded to the emergence of the subspecies O.c. algirus and O.c. cuniculus. Separation times between the two major groups of populations were estimated with Nei's genetic distance and were found to be highly discrepant with the mtDNA divergence estimate. The southwestern Iberian populations (algirus group) are more polymorphic than northern populations (cuniculus group), the latter displaying more than simply a subset of southern alleles. These results are thus compatible with the isolation of a marginal population or with a smaller long-term population size in the north. The high degree of genetic differentiation between the two subspecies allows the reconstruction of rabbit geographical expansion. France, Britain and other European countries, as well as Australia, were colonized by animals belonging to the cuniculus group, from which domestic breeds are exclusively derived. In contrast, Azorean island populations represent an expansion of the algirus group and show evidence of a strong bottleneck effect.
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014
The Mediterranean islands have a long history of human-mediated introductions that resulted in 3 frequent replacements of their fauna and flora. While these histories are sometimes well 4 documented or may be inferred by paleontological studies, the use of phylogenetic and population 5 genetic reconstruction methods provide a complementary perspective for answering questions related to the history of insular species. In this study, we infer the colonization history of Majorca 7 (Balearic Islands) by the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and the Iberian hare (Lepus 8 granatensis) using sequence variation of the mitochondrial DNA Control Region from continental 9 and insular specimens (total of 489 sequences). Additionally, the taxonomic identity of Majorcan L. 10 granatensis was confirmed using a diagnostic nuclear marker. For both Majorcan rabbits and hares, 11 genetic diversity was comparable to the continental populations, suggesting introduction of multiple 12 lineages. Two Majorcan haplogroups were found in hares, which likely correspond to two 13 introduction events. Rabbits from Majorca were identified as belonging to the subspecies O. c. 14 cuniculus, and may have been originated both from Iberian and French populations. The molecular 15 estimates of the timing of the colonization events of the Majorcan lagomorphs are consistent with 16 human-mediated introductions by early settlers on the islands.
World Rabbit Science, 2014
In Sicilian Mediterranean ecosystems the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus is a keystone species, very important for popular small game species and for ecological reasons. However, its spread across the island seems to have decreased and fragmented in recent times, but until now no accurate population management has been carried out due to the lack of ethological, ecological and taxonomic knowledge. A biometric analysis of European rabbit specimens from Sicily to widen current taxonomic knowledge was performed. In this paper, 7 body variables and 23 cranial variables of 166 and 120 individuals, respectively, were examined. Thereafter, the results were compared with biometric data from other European populations. The comparison showed that the body size and skull measurement in Sicilian specimens of European rabbit seem to be quite distinct from those given in the literature on rabbit in southwest Spain, whose populations were assigned to Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus subspecies, whereas it was particularly close to the average size of populations in northern Spain and southern France, assigned to Oryctolagus cuniculus cuniculus. Moreover, the Sicilian taxon was not correlated with Bergmann's rule, showing characteristics that could be the result of its introduction, population management or insularity. Biomolecular analyses will be necessary to definitely clarify the taxonomy of European rabbit in Sicily.