Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Camera traps reveal coat colour variation in an isolated population of golden jackals


Affiliations
1 Molecular Biodiversity Lab, Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam 643 002, India
2 Care Earth Trust, Chennai 600 001, India
 

Long-term monitoring of golden jackals along the coastline of the southern Western Ghats, India, provi­ded interesting results. We observed various coat colour patterns such as leucism, melanism, semi-melanism and rusty coats among jackals resembling dogs. The melanistic variation and rust colour expression may be due to the acquired genetic properties during cross­breeding with the free-ranging dogs, as the associated mutations have been previously documented in dogs and not in jackals. Genetic studies can assist us in under­standing the causes and consequences of coat colour variation.

Keywords

Coat colour variation, golden jackal, hybridization, isolated populations.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Charaspet, K., Khoewsree, N., Pla-ard, M., Songsasen, N. and Simchareon, S., Movement, home range size and activity pattern of the golden jackal (Canis aureus, Linneaus, 1758) in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. Biodiversitas, 2019, 20, 3430–3438.

  • Macdonald, D. W., The flexible social system of the golden jackal, Canis aureus. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 1979, 5, 17–38.

  • Luniak, M., Synurbization–adaptation of animal wildlife to urban development. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Urban Wildlife Symposium, University of Arizona, USA, 2004.

  • Stronen, A. V. et al., Canid hybridization: contemporary evolution in human‐modified landscapes. Ecol. Evol., 2012, 2, 2128–2140.

  • Sanil, R., Shameer, T. T., Mohan, G. and Ebanasar, J., Status survey of small mammals in west coastline tract of southern Western Ghats, India. Int. J. Environ. Sci., 2014, 4, 875–889.

  • Shameer, T. T., Ramesh, B. and Easa, P. S., Recent records of rustyspotted cat from southern Western Ghats, India. CATnews, 2019, 70, 23–25.

  • Sanil, R., Shameer, T. T. and Easa, P. S., Albinism in jungle cat and jackal along the coastline of the southern Western Ghats. CATnews, 2014, 61, 23–25.

  • Ridout, M. S. and Linkie, M., Estimating overlap of daily activity patterns from camera trap data. J. Agric. Biol. Environ. Stat., 2009, 14, 322–337.

  • David, J. P., Rajkumar, A., Babu, R., Kumar, S. V. and Matchachan, G., Photographic record of the golden jackal Canis aureus in Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 2019, 116, 70–71.

  • Negi, T., Review on current worldwide status, distribution, ecology and dietary habits of golden jackal, Canis aureus. Octa J. Environ. Res., 2014, 2, 338–359.

  • Galov, A. et al., First evidence of hybridization between golden jackal (Canis aureus) and domestic dog (Canis familiaris) as revealed by genetic markers. R. Soc. Open Sci., 2015, 2(12), 150–450.

  • Candille, S. I. et al., A -defensin mutation causes black coat color in domestic dogs. Science, 2007, 318, 1418–1423.

  • Anderson, T. M. et al., Molecular and evolutionary history of melanism in North American gray wolves. Science, 2009, 323, 1339– 1343.

  • Caniglia, R. et al., Black coats in an admixed wolf dog pack is melanism an indicator of hybridization in wolves?. Eur. J. Wildl. Res., 2013, 59, 543–555.

  • Lanszki, J., Heltai, M. and Szabó, L., Feeding habits and trophic niche overlap between sympatric golden jackal (Canis aureus) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in the Pannonian ecoregion (Hungary). Can. J. Zool., 2006, 84, 1647–1656.

  • Neelakandan, K. K., Black jackals (Canis aureus Linn.) in Kerala. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1969, 66, 612–615.

  • Mooring, M. S., Eppert, A. A. and Botts, R. T., Natural selection of melanism in Costa Rican jaguar and oncilla: a test of Gloger’s rule and the temporal segregation hypothesis. Tropic. Conserv. Sci., 2020, 13, 1–15.

  • Shankar, A., Salaria, N., Sanil, R., Chackaravarthy, S. D. and Shameer, T. T., Spatio-temporal association of fishing cats with the mammalian assemblages in the East Godavari mangrove delta, India. Mamm. Study, 2020, 45, 1–11.

  • Graipel, M. E., Bogoni, J. A., Giehl, E. L. H., Cerezer, F. O., Cáceres, N. C. and Eizirik, E., Melanism evolution in the cat family is influenced by intraspecific communication under low visibility. PLoS ONE, 2019, 14(12), e0226136.

  • Pillay, R., Johnsingh, A. J. T., Raghunath, R. and Madhusudan, M. D., Patterns of spatiotemporal change in large mammal distribution and abundance in the southern Western Ghats, India. Biol. Conserv., 2011, 144, 1567–1576.

  • Jhala, Y. V., Qureshi, Q. and Nayak, A. K., Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India, 2018, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2020.


Abstract Views: 403

PDF Views: 130




  • Camera traps reveal coat colour variation in an isolated population of golden jackals

Abstract Views: 403  |  PDF Views: 130

Authors

Thekke Thumbath Shameer
Molecular Biodiversity Lab, Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam 643 002, India
Pudupet Madhavan Bhavana
Molecular Biodiversity Lab, Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam 643 002, India
Govindarajan Mohan
Molecular Biodiversity Lab, Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam 643 002, India
Pulikunnel Syed Easa
Care Earth Trust, Chennai 600 001, India
Raveendranathanpillai Sanil
Molecular Biodiversity Lab, Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam 643 002, India

Abstract


Long-term monitoring of golden jackals along the coastline of the southern Western Ghats, India, provi­ded interesting results. We observed various coat colour patterns such as leucism, melanism, semi-melanism and rusty coats among jackals resembling dogs. The melanistic variation and rust colour expression may be due to the acquired genetic properties during cross­breeding with the free-ranging dogs, as the associated mutations have been previously documented in dogs and not in jackals. Genetic studies can assist us in under­standing the causes and consequences of coat colour variation.

Keywords


Coat colour variation, golden jackal, hybridization, isolated populations.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv122%2Fi6%2F738-741