Identification of a novel hybrid zone within the black-footed rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis) in Western Australia
Mark D. B. Eldridge
A D , David J. Pearson B and Sally Potter A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.
B Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, WA 6983, Australia.
C Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: mark.eldridge@austmus.gov.au
Australian Journal of Zoology 68(2) 98-107 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO20052
Submitted: 15 June 2020 Accepted: 25 May 2021 Published: 14 June 2021
Abstract
It is increasingly recognised that intertaxon hybridisation is more common in vertebrates than previously thought. However, recent hybridisation has rarely been reported from wild marsupials, with only three instances of first generation (F1) hybrids reported, all in macropodids. In the 1990s a chromosomally anomalous population of black-footed rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis) was identified in the Townsend Ridges in central eastern Western Australia. Individuals from this population had chromosomes characteristic of two P. lateralis subspecies (P. l. centralis and P. l. kimberleyensis). This unusual mixture is suggestive of a novel hybrid zone between subspecies, but it could also represent a P. l. centralis population in which a 9–10 chromosome fusion has independently arisen. To test between these hypotheses, we compared mitochondrial DNA Control Region (CR) sequence data from Townsend Ridges individuals to published data for all P. lateralis subspecies. Two divergent lineages of CR haplotypes were identified at Townsend Ridges, suggesting that it represents a novel rock-wallaby hybrid zone, the third reported in the genus. While one CR haplotype clustered with those typical of P. l. centralis, the other Townsend Ridges haplotypes clustered with those from three different P. lateralis subspecies but not with P. l. kimberleyensis. Additional studies with multiple nuclear genes will be necessary to fully understand the nature of this novel hybrid zone.
Keywords: black-footed rock-wallaby, genetics, chromosomes, hybrid zone, introgression, macropodid, marsupial, mitochondrial DNA, Petrogale lateralis.
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