Road to Extinction? Past and Present Population Structure and Genomic Diversity in the Koala
Koalas are arboreal herbivorous marsupials, endemic to Australia. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the number of koalas declined dramatically due to hunting for their furs. In addition, anthropogenic activities have further decimated their available habitat, and decreased population numbers. Here, we utilize 37 historic and 25 modern genomes sampled from across their historic and present geographic range, to gain insights into how their population structure and genetic diversity have changed across time; assess the genetic consequences of the period of intense hunting, and the current genetic status of this iconic Australian species. Our analyses reveal how genome-wide heterozygosity has decreased through time and unveil previously uncharacterized mitochondrial haplotypes and nuclear genotypes in the historic dataset, which are absent from today's koala populations.
Authors
- Hernán E. Morales (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2964-020X)
- Mikkel‐Holger S. Sinding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1371-219X)
- Binia De Cahsan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6978-6633)
- Rebecca N. Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3035-2827)
- Daniela C. Kalthoff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2439-5484)
- Alex D. Greenwood
- David Alejandro Duchêne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5479-1974)
- Selina Brace (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2126-6732)
- Michael V. Westbury (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0478-3930)
- Marcus Thomas P. Gilbert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5805-7195)
- Roberto Portela Miguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3094-9949)
- Matthew J. Lott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8685-8099)
- Alfred L. Roca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9217-5593)
- Marcela Sandoval‐Velasco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4635-6171)
- Ian Barnes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8322-6918)
Institutions
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Australian Museum (AU)
- Natural History Museum (GB)
- National Museum of Natural History (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- Swedish Museum of Natural History (SE)
- University College Copenhagen (DK)
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (DE)
- Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
- IT University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Molecular Biology and Evolution
- Published
- 2025-03-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf057
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.09
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- American Museum of Natural History
- National Research Foundation
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Danmarks Grundforskningsfond
- Novo Nordisk
- Universitetet i Oslo
- Novo Nordisk Fonden
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign