Ancient DNA and the reintroduction of extinct species: the Eurasian beaver in Britain.

The reintroduction of an extinct species requires consideration of the phylogenetic relatedness of the source population to the original population, as seen in the case of the Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber, which was driven to extinction in Britain and then reintroduced in 2009 (Marr et al. 2018). Ancient DNA analysis was used by Marr et al. (2018) to determine the relationship between the extinct Eurasian beaver in Britain and populations across Europe, in order to determine potential source populations for future reintroductions. It was found that the ancient Eurasian beaver samples from Britain grouped more closely with the Western European populations than the Eastern European ones (Marr et al. 2018). However, within the Western European populations they were shown to not be more closely related to any one population over the others (Marr et al. 2018). However, Marr et al. (2018) also note that increasing the diversity of the genetics in the reintroduced modern populations may also be beneficial for adapting to the current environment, and should be considered alongside phylogenetic analysis using ancient DNA.

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References

Marr, M.M., Brace, S., Schreve, D.C., and Barnes, I. (2018) Identifying source populations for the reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber L. 1758, into Britain: evidence from ancient DNA. Scientific Reports. 8: 2708.

Image: Marr, M.M., Brace, S., Schreve, D.C., and Barnes, I. (2018) Figure 2 from Identifying source populations for the reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber L. 1758, into Britain: evidence from ancient DNA. Scientific Reports. 8: 2708. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-21173-8/figures/2 Accessed 02/27/18.

Victoria Lockwood