Abstract

After domestication, wild progenitors, such as the aurochs and the wild horse, became extinct. For the European rabbit, however, ancestral, domestic, and feral populations exist. During domestication of the rabbit, very few alleles have been fixed for selective traits, and thus, the ancestral genotypes have been preserved in lowered frequencies. This facilitates investigations on genetic processes involved in domestication as well as dedomestication, that is, where domestic strains are rewilded. The acquired knowledge may be useful in the search for genotypic, phenotypic, and, perhaps most importantly, ecotypic equivalents that could assist in the restoration of extinct fauna and its ecosystem functions. Such efforts could provide novel evolutionary trajectories useful in nature restoration, management, and conservation.

Keywords

defaunation; feral; Oryctolagus cuniculus; restoration; rewilding

Published in

Restoration Ecology
2017, Volume: 25, number: 3, pages: 330-332

SLU Authors

• Thulin, Carl-Gustaf

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology
Zoology
Genetics


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12510

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/80714