title: A novelMC1Rallele for black coat colour reveals the Polynesian ancestry and hybridization patterns of Hawaiian feral pigs.
abstract: Pigs (Sus scrofa) have played an important cultural role in Hawaii since Polynesians first introduced them in approximately AD 1200. Additional varieties of pigs were introduced following Captain Cook's arrival in Hawaii in 1778 and it has been suggested that the current pig population may descend primarily, or even exclusively, from European pigs. Although populations of feral pigs today are an important source of recreational hunting on all of the major islands, they also negatively impact native plants and animals. As a result, understanding the origins of these feral pig populations has significant ramifications for discussions concerning conservation management, identity and cultural continuity on the islands. Here, we analysed a neutral mitochondrial marker and a functional nuclear coat colour marker in 57 feral Hawaiian pigs. Through the identification of a new mutation in theMC1Rgene that results in black coloration, we demonstrate that Hawaiian feral pigs are mostly the descendants of those originally introduced during Polynesian settlement, though there is evidence for some admixture. As such, extant Hawaiian pigs represent a unique historical lineage that is not exclusively descended from feral pigs of European origin.
authors.affiliation: The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK; The Bioarchaeology and Genomics Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, MS 4352 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4352, USA.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linderholm
authors.affiliation: The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK; Discipline of Archaeology, National University of Ireland, University Road, Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: Daisy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.affiliation: The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology , University of Oxford , Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY , UK.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Battista
authors.affiliation: The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology , University of Oxford , Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY , UK.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frantz
authors.affiliation: The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology , University of Oxford , Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY , UK.
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.affiliation: Center for Conservation Genomics , Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute , National Zoological Park, MRC 5508, Washington, DC 20013-7012 , USA.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Fleischer
authors.affiliation: Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History , Smithsonian Institution , PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012 , USA.
authors.forename: Helen F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Botany Department , University of Hawaìi at Manoa , 3190 Maile Way, Room 101, Honolulu, HI 96822 , USA.
authors.forename: Dave
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution , Cornell University , Ithaca, NY , USA.
authors.forename: Jed P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Sparks
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology , Trinity Western University , Langley, BC , Canada V2Y 1Y1.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Clements
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology , Uppsala University , 75123 Uppsala , Sweden.
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology , University of Liverpool , 12-14 Abercromby Square, Liverpool L69 7WZ , UK.
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dobney
authors.affiliation: Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group , Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC) , Avenida Américo Vespucio, s/n, 41092 Seville , Spain.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.affiliation: The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology , University of Oxford , Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY , UK.
authors.forename: Greger
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4092-0392
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Larson
keywords: Hawaii; Pacific colonization; Sus scrofa; feral pigs; mitochondrial DNA