Xiaodong Liu, Long Lin, Mikkel-Holger S Sinding, Laura D Bertola, Kristian Hanghøj, Liam Quinn, Genís Garcia-Erill, Malthe Sebro Rasmussen, Mikkel Schubert, Patrícia Pečnerová, Renzo F Balboa, Zilong Li, Michael P Heaton, Timothy P L Smith, Rui Resende Pinto, Xi Wang, Josiah Kuja, Anna Brüniche-Olsen, Jonas Meisner, Cindy G Santander, Joseph O Ogutu, Charles Masembe, Rute R da Fonseca, Vincent Muwanika, Hans R Siegismund, Anders Albrechtsen, Ida Moltke, Rasmus Heller
The blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) is a keystone species in savanna ecosystems from southern to eastern Africa, and is well known for its spectacular migrations and locally extreme abundance. In contrast, the black wildebeest (C. gnou) is endemic to southern Africa, barely escaped extinction in the 1900s and is feared to be in danger of genetic swamping from the blue wildebeest. Despite the ecological importance of the wildebeest, there is a lack of understanding of how its unique migratory ecology has affected its gene flow, genetic structure and phylogeography...
April 12, 2024: Nature Communications