Genomic consequences of isolation and inbreeding in an island dingo population
Dingoes come from an ancient canid lineage that originated in East Asia between 8000 and 11000 years BP. As Australia largest terrestrial predator, dingoes play an important ecological role. A small population exists on a world heritage listed offshore island, Kgari. Our results suggest that, despite current levels of inbreeding, the Kgari population is purging strongly deleterious mutations, which, in the absence of further reductions in population size, may facilitate the persistence of small populations despite low genetic diversity and isolation. However, there is little to no purging of mildly deleterious alleles, which may have important long-term consequences, and should be considered by conservation and management programs.