The impacts of European arrival on Australian dingoes
Abstract
The European colonial expansion had dramatic consequences on both Indigenous Peoples and local fauna. In Australia, the degree to which the arrival of Europeans and their dogs impacted the ecology and ancestry of dingoes is contentious. To test for gene flow with European dogs, we sequenced genomes of 18 ancient Australian dingoes from the Nullarbor Plain, two early 20th-century New Guinean dingoes, a mid-19th-century kangaroo hound, and 33 contemporary dingoes from across Australia. To quantify dietary shifts after the arrival of the First Fleet (AD1788), we generated stable isotopic ( δ 13 C, δ 15 N) data for 55 directly dated ancient Australian dingoes spanning the last ~2,300 y. We show that the diet of Nullarbor Plain dingoes shifted soon after European arrival, possibly due to shifts in prey abundance. Our genomic analyses demonstrated that pre-European dingoes were more inbred than most contemporary dog breeds, possibly as a result of population bottlenecks. We also showed that many dingoes, particularly those from Southeast Australia, experienced admixture with European dogs. Although we detected European ancestry dating to the early 18th-century, the majority of gene flow events coincided with the initiation of landscape-scale population control in the 1960s. Furthermore, some European dog alleles may have provided adaptive benefits to dingoes and alleviated inbreeding depression. Despite the existence of gene flow with European dogs, dingoes have maintained their distinctiveness. This suggests that management strategies should prioritize maintenance of substantial population sizes across Australia to both facilitate effective purifying and positive selection on introgressed alleles, and mitigate inbreeding.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (27)
Lachie Scarsbrook
Kylie M. Cairns
Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales
Kieren J. Mitchell
Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide
Katia Bougiouri
Allowen Evin
Institute of Evolutionary Science-Montpellier, University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE
Alexander C. Harris
Cancer Genetics and Comparative Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
Anna E. Wood
The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Zehui Zhang
The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Daniel J. Lawson
Department of Mathematics, University of Bristol
Joel M. Alves
The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Peter W. Ditchfield
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Sofia Granja-Martins
The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Amy K. Styring
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Kristina Tabbada
Olaf Thalmann
Mathew S. Crowther
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney
Michael Curry
Archaeology & Paleoanthropology, University of New England
Tatiana R. Feuerborn
Loukas G. Koungoulos
Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History and Language, Australian National University
Mike Letnic
Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales
Elizabeth H. Reed
Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales
Richard Sabin
Vertebrates Division, Natural History Museum
Heidi G. Parker
Cancer Genetics and Comparative Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
Elaine A. Ostrander
Cancer Genetics and Comparative Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
Laurent A. F. Frantz
Greger Larson
Melanie A. Fillios
Archaeology & Paleoanthropology, University of New England