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Genetic assessment, illegal trafficking and management of the Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise in Southern Spain and Northern Africa

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Abstract

Wild populations of many species are declining as a result of habitat destruction and climate change but also through the over-collection for wild meat and the pet trade. With a long history of trade around the Mediterranean, populations of the spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca graeca) have become highly disturbed. In this study we utilise a molecular approach to investigate the diversity, population admixture and structure of T. g. graeca populations in northern Africa and southern Spain, as well as to obtain an insight into the origin of newly established populations in the south of Europe. We infer this from the sequencing of two partial regions of the mitochondria (12s rRNA + cyt b) and genotyping at 16 microsatellite markers in 448 tortoises. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that Spanish populations were founded from North Africa, the consequence of multiple introductions or exchanges in genetic material as a result of trans-oceanic dispersal. Despite the trade of individuals between both sides of the Gibraltar Strait, our analysis of population structure showed clear differences between both the African and European populations, suggesting an incipient evolutionary lineage in southeast of Spain. As such, these populations possess unique genetic identities and should be treated as different management units. Surprisingly, the genetic data identified a great deal of diversity contained within pet (captive) stock and also allowed us to infer hybrids among individuals with another species of terrestrial tortoise from northern Spain (T. hermanni hermanni). Additionally, our results provide insight into the local movement and trade of individuals that has occurred around the Mediterranean basin (between northern Africa and southern Spain) and as such provides guidance for the effective management of T. g. graeca captive stock and the illegal trafficking.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge to Fundación Global Nature (Murcia Region, Spain); the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center “El Valle” (Murcia Region, Spain); Marcos Fernández (Wildlife Rehabilitation Center Santa Faz, Alicante, Spain) and Albert Martinez-Silvestre (CRARC, Barcelona, Spain). Thanks also to Peter Spencer for his revisions of the manuscript and referees for their comments and suggestions that helped to improve the previous manuscript. The financial support was provided by both Fundación Séneca, Spain (Proyect 00655/PI/04) and by MEC, Spain (Grant AP-2004-4048).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    María Salinas, Laura Altet & Armand Sánchez

  2. Dpto de Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain

    Isabel Burguete

  3. Dpto de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain

    Cristina Clavel, Ramón Miguel Almela & Alejandro Bayón

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  1. María Salinas
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  2. Laura Altet
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  3. Cristina Clavel
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Correspondence to María Salinas.

Appendix

Appendix

See Appendix Table 3.

Table 3 Testudinidae microsatellites tested in T. g. graeca and T. hermanni, showing the species in which they were isolated and characterized
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Salinas, M., Altet, L., Clavel, C. et al. Genetic assessment, illegal trafficking and management of the Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise in Southern Spain and Northern Africa. Conserv Genet 12, 1–13 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-009-9982-1

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