Genomic Insights Into the Origin, Decline and Recovery of the Once Critically Endangered Iberian Lynx

Godoy, JA, Bazzicalupo, E, Casas-Marce, M, Cruz, F, Fernández, J, Hasselgren, M, Kleinman-Ruiz, D, Lorenzo-Fernández, L, Lucena-Perez, M, Marmesat, E, Martinez-Cruz, B, Mayor-Fidalgo, L, Pérez-Sorribes, L and Soriano, L (2025) Genomic Insights Into the Origin, Decline and Recovery of the Once Critically Endangered Iberian Lynx. Molecular Ecology. ISSN 0962-1083

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Abstract

The Iberian lynx was at the brink of extinction by the year 2000 but has since then, and thanks to intensive conservation measures, gone through a remarkable recovery, providing a much-welcomed and encouraging conservation success story. Genetic issues have probably contributed to the decline in the past, and the genetic management of inbreeding and genetic diversity is likely contributing to its recent recovery. The species was an early adopter of genetic and genomic approaches, and the combination of an extreme decline, an intensive monitoring and management programme and extensive genomic resources and data makes the Iberian lynx an excellent model for conservation genomics. Here, we review how genetic and genomic data have contributed to the knowledge of the species evolutionary and demographic history, the evaluation of the genetic status of the species through time, including historical and ancient data, and how this information has prompted and guided conservation actions. In the process, genomics provided valuable insights into the dynamics of functional variation in bottlenecked populations and the consequences of intraspecific and interspecific admixtures. In more applied terms, the species is subjected to an ambitious genetic monitoring and management programme, covering captive, remnant and reintroduced populations, which has succeeded in improving the genetic status of the species and thereby contributed to its recovery. Current genomic work aims at expanding these contributions with novel genomic resources and data while capitalising on extensive demographic and genealogical data provided by the ongoing non-invasive genetic monitoring programme.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Iberian lynx; genetic diversity; genetic load; genetic management; genetic monitoring; inbreeding; 31 Biological Sciences; 3103 Ecology; 3104 Evolutionary Biology; 3105 Genetics; Genetics; Human Genome; Biotechnology; Generic health relevance; 15 Life on Land; 06 Biological Sciences; Evolutionary Biology; 31 Biological sciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions:	Biological and Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	Wiley
Date of acceptance:	21 February 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	13 June 2025
Date Deposited:	13 Jun 2025 11:26
Last Modified:	13 Jun 2025 11:30
DOI or ID number:	10.1111/mec.17719
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26584

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