Impacts of biological globalization in the Mediterranean: unveiling the deep history of human-mediated gamebird dispersal.
Humans have a long history of moving wildlife that over time has resulted in unprecedented biotic homogenization. It is, as a result, often unclear whether certain taxa are native to a region or naturalized, and how the history of human involvement in species dispersal has shaped present-day biodiversity. Although currently an eastern Palaearctic galliform, the black francolin (Francolinus francolinus) was known to occur in the western Mediterranean from at least the time of Pliny the Elder, if not earlier. During Medieval times and the Renaissance, the black francolin was a courtly gamebird prized not only for its flavor, but also its curative, and even aphrodisiac qualities. There is uncertainty, however, whether this important gamebird was native or introduced to the region and, if the latter, what the source of introduction into the western Mediterranean was. Here we combine historical documentation with a DNA investigation of modern birds and archival (13th-20th century) specimens from across the species' current and historically documented range. Our study proves the black francolin was nonnative to the western Mediterranean, and we document its introduction from the east via several trade routes, some reaching as far as South Asia. This finding provides insight into the reach and scope of long-distance trade routes that serviced the demand of European aristocracy for exotic species as symbols of wealth and prestige, and helps to demonstrate the lasting impact of human-mediated long-distance species dispersal on current day biodiversity.
Department of Biology, Zoology and Anthropology Unit, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy;
Giovanni
G
Forcina
Department of Biology, Zoology and Anthropology Unit, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy;
Monica
M
Guerrini
Bird Group, Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Herts HP23 6AP, United Kingdom;
Hein
H
van Grouw
Central Zoo Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, New Delhi 110001, India;
Brij K
BK
Gupta
Game Fund Department, Ministry of Interior, 1453 Nicosia, Cyprus;
Panicos
P
Panayides
Game Fund Department, Ministry of Interior, 1453 Nicosia, Cyprus;
Pantelis
P
Hadjigerou
Department of Biology, University of Baghdad, Al-Jadriya, 10071 Baghdad, Iraq;
Omar F
OF
Al-Sheikhly
Himalayan Nature Conservation Foundation, Conservation Department, Muzaffarabad 13100, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan;
Muhammad N
MN
Awan
Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Zoology Division, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan; and.
Aleem A
AA
Khan
Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012 zederm@si.edu filippo.barbanera@unipi.it.
Melinda A
MA
Zeder
Department of Biology, Zoology and Anthropology Unit, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy; zederm@si.edu filippo.barbanera@unipi.it.
Filippo
F
Barbanera
D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D006802:Human Activities / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny
DNA; Mediterranean; globalization; species dispersal; wildlife trade