Nat Commun2026Article

非洲象种群连通性和数量下降的基因组影响

The genomic impact of population connectivity and decline in Africa’s elephants

Patrícia Pečnerová · Yasuko Ishida · Genís Garcia-Erill · Laura D. Bertola · Cindy G. Santander · Xiaodong Liu · Anna Brüniche-Olsen · Anubhab Khan · Lauren M. Hennelly · Renzo F. Balboa · Long Lin · Malthe S. Rasmussen · Xi Wang · Mikkel Schubert · Amal Al-Chaer · Sylwia Urbaniak · Kan Nobuta · Sasha Treadup · Karine A. Viaud-Martinez · Alida de Flamingh · Ripan S. Malhi · Savanah Bird · Nelson Ting · Mrinalini Watsa · Martin N. Tchamba · Stéphanie Bourgeois · Chris Thouless · Iain Douglas-Hamilton · George Wittemyer · Peter J. Van Coeverden de Groot · Vincent B. Muwanika · Charles Masembe · Nicholas J. Georgiadis · Christina Hvilsom · Rasmus Heller · Hans Redlef Siegismund · Alfred L. Roca

1. 信息

DOI10.1038/s41467-026-71262-w

期刊Nature Communications / Nat Commun

类型Article

发表2026-04-16 （online）

卷期页17(1): 3223

收录2026-10-09

被浏览…

关键词Loxodonta africana Loxodonta cyclotis savanna elephant forest elephants population decline population connectivity gene flow introgression hybridization inbreeding

标签—

2. 摘要

African elephants are keystone species facing severe declines due to the ivory trade and habitat loss. To investigate the genomic consequences, we analyze 232 high-coverage genomes from 17 African countries in the first continent-wide genomic analysis treating savanna ( Loxodonta africana ) and forest ( L. cyclotis ) elephants as distinct species. We find a deep divergence between species, with forest elephants showing higher heterozygosity and historically larger effective population sizes, while savanna elephants exhibit greater inbreeding and genetic load. Surprisingly, we detect widespread introgression of trace forest ancestry across savanna populations, suggesting a complex history of hybridization. Within species, historically high mobility promoted genetic connectivity, though we identify signs of human-induced isolation and drift in peripheral populations. Our findings highlight gene flow as a key force in African elephant evolution and underscore the urgency of understanding the impact of accelerating habitat fragmentation in these ecosystem engineers.

3. 图表

4. 引用

Pečnerová P, Ishida Y, Garcia-Erill G, et al. The genomic impact of population connectivity and decline in Africa’s elephants[J]. Nature Communications, 2026, 17(1): 3223. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71262-w.

查看 BibTeX

@article{penerov2026,
  author = {Patrícia Pečnerová and Yasuko Ishida and Genís Garcia-Erill and Laura D. Bertola and Cindy G. Santander and Xiaodong Liu and Anna Brüniche-Olsen and Anubhab Khan and Lauren M. Hennelly and Renzo F. Balboa and Long Lin and Malthe S. Rasmussen and Xi Wang and Mikkel Schubert and Amal Al-Chaer and Sylwia Urbaniak and Kan Nobuta and Sasha Treadup and Karine A. Viaud-Martinez and Alida de Flamingh and Ripan S. Malhi and Savanah Bird and Nelson Ting and Mrinalini Watsa and Martin N. Tchamba and Stéphanie Bourgeois and Chris Thouless and Iain Douglas-Hamilton and George Wittemyer and Peter J. Van Coeverden de Groot and Vincent B. Muwanika and Charles Masembe and Nicholas J. Georgiadis and Christina Hvilsom and Rasmus Heller and Hans Redlef Siegismund and Alfred L. Roca},
  title = {The genomic impact of population connectivity and decline in Africa’s elephants},
  journal = {Nature Communications},
  year = {2026},
  volume = {17},
  number = {1},
  pages = {3223},
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-71262-w},
  publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC},
}

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