@article{fdi:010048379,
  title = {{A}ncient {DNA} perspective on the failed introduction of mongooses in {I}taly during the {XX}th century},
  author = {{G}aubert, {P}hilippe and {Z}enatello, {M}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{W}e used ancient {DNA} techniques to amplify mitochondrial {DNA} fragments [cytochrome b (cyt b) and control region ({CR})] from four museum specimens that represent, to our knowledge, the last testimony of the introduction of - now extinct - mongooses in {I}taly. {W}e assessed the identity, origin and genetic variability of {I}talian mongooses using a species-level assignation {B}ayesian approach and haplotype network analysis. {T}he genetic diversity (cyt b and {CR}) among {I}talian individuals was null. {T}he cyt b sequences from the four museum specimens clearly established the {I}ndian grey mongoose {H}erpestes edwardsii as the species having been introduced in {I}taly in the mid-{XX}th century. {T}he latter had at least been released twice within a period of 10 years ({C}irceo {NP} and {C}apalbio, c. 200 km northward), probably from the same captive stock of the {G}iardino {Z}oologico di {R}oma. {A}ssessment of genetic variability and haplotype network including native representatives of {H}. edwardsii suggested that the introduced pool likely originated from {P}akistan or {I}ndia. {I}t appears that a combination of deleterious factors including low genetic diversity, restricted range and nonadaptation to western {P}alaearctic winter conditions is responsible for the extinction of the species in {I}taly. {H}owever, the lack of knowledge on the life-history traits and population dynamics of {H}. edwardsii prevents from further discussion of the factors that likely promoted its extinction process.},
  keywords = {{H}erpestidae ; {H}erpestes edwardsii ; {I}taly ; introduction ; ancient {DNA} ; population crash ; life-history traits},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{J}ournal of {Z}oology},
  volume = {279},
  numero = {3},
  pages = {262--269},
  ISSN = {0952-8369},
  year = {2009},
  DOI = {10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00614.x},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010048379},
}