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1 June 2012 Rediscovery of a new mountain gazelle population and clarification of taxonomic status of the genus Gazella in Turkey using mtDNA sequencing
Tolga Kankiliç, Deniz Özüt, Şükrü Gürler, Meral Kence, Faruk Bozkaya, Aykut Kence
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Abstract

The fauna of Turkey lists the goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) as the only species of the genus Gazella, but older records reported another species of gazelle in Anatolia (either G. dorcas or G. gazella). However, the species status and the distribution of the second gazelle species have never been confirmed, and the species has been regarded as extirpated. We studied the nucleotide differences in a 400 bp region of cytochrome-b gene for Şanlıurfa population and a recently discovered gazelle population in Hatay. A total of 36 sequences were found with 23 variable sites. All individuals from Hatay and the Golan Heights, Israel (G. gazella) revealed an identical monophyletic lineage and the results of phylogenetic analyses suggest that the population in Hatay belongs to G. g. gazella. Şanlıurfa individuals were grouped with Genbank sequences of G. subgutturosa marica, which a recent study has suggested to be a distinct species, G. marica. Our findings have resolved an ongoing debate on the taxonomic status of the Gazella in Turkey and call for the urgent need of improved conservation efforts for the wild gazelles.

Tolga Kankiliç, Deniz Özüt, Şükrü Gürler, Meral Kence, Faruk Bozkaya, and Aykut Kence "Rediscovery of a new mountain gazelle population and clarification of taxonomic status of the genus Gazella in Turkey using mtDNA sequencing," Folia Zoologica 61(2), 129-137, (1 June 2012). https://doi.org/10.25225/fozo.v61.i2.a6.2012
Received: 5 July 2011; Accepted: 1 November 2011; Published: 1 June 2012
KEYWORDS
conservation
cytochrome-b
Gazella gazella
Gazella marica
taxonomy
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