The missing lynx of Eurasia at its Southern edge: a connection to the critically endangered Balkan lynx

Abstract

The populations of Eurasian lynx in Anatolia are as fragmented as the European populations. Although the origins of and the connections between the European lynx populations have been elucidated, there have been no genetic studies on the lynx populations in Turkey. The lack of genetic and evolutionary information about lynx in Anatolia, which is considered to be a biodiversity hotspot, makes it difficult to track the migration routes during the Quaternary. In this study, we present the genetic characteristics of two isolated lynx populations in Southwest Taurus Mountains and the Turkish Caucasus as well as two individuals from Erzincan area. DNA purified from the ecological scat samples collected from Çığlıkara Nature Reserve in Elmalı-Antalya and Allahuekber Mountains in Sarıkamış-Kars, as well as two roadkill samples from Erzincan, has been analysed for phylogenetic markers such as the mitochondrial DNA control region and cytochrome b. The DNA sequences were compared with haplotypes previously detected in populations from Europe and the Caucasus in order to determine the evolutionary relationships of the populations. This study compares the current genetic structure of some of the Turkish lynx populations to the other lynx genetic data, mostly carried out with museum samples around the world. Three haplotypes were found in three different regions of Anatolia. The Northeast and Southwest populations harbour genetically distinct haplotypes, the latter one, a new haplotype: H13-TR is the only phylogenetic connection to the critically endangered Balkan lynx yet to be described.

Keywords:

• Eurasian lynx
• control region
• cytochrome b
• new haplotypes
• Turkey

Acknowledgements

The work was carried out according to the protocol between Turkish General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks and Sakarya University. We are grateful to Batur Avgan who provided lynx scat samples as well as valuable information regarding lynx in Turkey and the relevant geography. We thank Vet. Hasan Özen of Kafkas University for providing two roadkill lynx tissue samples and to Vet. Cenk Korugan of Darıca Faruk Yalçın Hayvanat Bahçesi Zoo for providing Felidae scat samples that were used as control groups. We would like to thank Şevket Şen, Urs Breitenmoser, Battal Çıplak, Attila Ciner, Ferhat Kaya, Okan Tüysüz and Serdar Mayda for valuable discussions and to Eli Knispel Rueness for critical reading of the manuscript. We would like to thank Betül Kocaman for technical assistance. HBD would also like to thank her family in Ankara and Brussels for their support during her years at Sakarya University.

Disclosure statement

There is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

We would like to acknowledge Sakarya University Scientific Research Projects Commission (BAPK) M.Sc. research grants for Numan Cömert (2014-50-01-03) and Oya Carlı (2014-50-01-022) under the supervision of H. Benan Dinçtürk.