Download Population Genetic of Humboldt Penguin at South America

POSTER ABSTRACT
Population Genetic of Humboldt Penguin at South America
Gisele Pires de Mendonça Dantas1, Amanda Mourão Santos1,2, João Stenghel Morgante3, Larissa Rosa
Oliveira4, Guilhermo Luna-Jorquera5, Alejandro Simeone6,Daniel Acuña-Gonzalez7, Armando ValdezVelasqués8, Juliana de Abreu Vianna9
1
PPG Zoologia de Vertebrados –PUC Minas, Brazil, 2Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, 3Universidade de São
Paulo, Brazil, 4Universidade Vale do Rio Sinos, Brazil, 5Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile, 6Universidad Andres Bello,
Chile, 7Universidad de Concepción Chile, 8Universidad Caeytano Heredia, Peru, 9Unviversidad Catolica, Chile
The Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) breed on islands and islets along the Pacific Ocean coast in
South America, where goes the cold Humboldt current. This animal is greatly affected by climatic events
like the El-niño because is difficult to move and find food, then many of them die, especially puppies.
Fidelity to the original colony associated with climate changes make this specie vulnerable to
environmental changes.
The phylogeography studies the historical processes that justify the geographical distribution of certain
individuals, thus helps to understand how climatic events which happens in past affect the distribution of
species. In this context this project evaluated the genetic diversity over the distribution of Humboldt
penguins, migration between breeding colonies and evolutionary history of the species.
For it was analysed 401 samples spread over 8 colonies using 13 microsatellites loci, where we observed
high genetic diversity: allelic richness 9 to 23 alleles and heterozigosity 0.63 to 0.78). ANOVA indicated no
structure to Humboldt Penguin in Pacific Coast less 2% of variation is due to differentiation among
population. Structure analysis corroborated this low genetic differentiation among population. However,
Principal Component Analysis indicated that Algarrobo and Puñihuil colonies were the most differentiated.
Low genetic differentiation among populations and consequence high migration and probably to high
historically size of colonies. Similar results yet related in previous studies in South American with this
species, indicating that Humboldt penguin have kept its genetic diversity along the time. Despite of
exploration with several point through the pacific coast. However, it is necessary to continue monitoring of
demography and genetic of population this species.
9th International Penguin Congress, Cape Town, South Africa, 5th – 9th September 2016