African bushpigs exhibit porous species boundaries and appeared in Madagascar concurrently with human arrival

Renzo F. Balboa, Laura D. Bertola, Anna Brüniche-Olsen, Malthe Sebro Rasmussen, Xiaodong Liu, Guillaume Besnard, Jordi Salmona, Cindy G. Santander, Shixu He, Dietmar Zinner, Miguel Pedrono, Vincent Muwanika, Charles Masembe, Mikkel Schubert, Josiah Kuja, Liam Quinn, Genís Garcia-Erill, Frederik Filip Stæger, Rianja Rakotoarivony, Margarida Henrique, Long Lin, Xi Wang, Michael P. Heaton, Timothy P. L. Smith, Kristian Hanghøj, Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding, Anagaw Atickem, Lounès Chikhi, Christian Roos, Philippe Gaubert, Hans R. Siegismund, Ida Moltke (), Anders Albrechtsen () and Rasmus Heller ()
Additional contact information
Renzo F. Balboa: University of Copenhagen
Laura D. Bertola: University of Copenhagen
Anna Brüniche-Olsen: University of Copenhagen
Malthe Sebro Rasmussen: University of Copenhagen
Xiaodong Liu: University of Copenhagen
Guillaume Besnard: Université Toulouse Paul Sabatier
Jordi Salmona: Université Toulouse Paul Sabatier
Cindy G. Santander: University of Copenhagen
Shixu He: University of Copenhagen
Dietmar Zinner: German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research
Miguel Pedrono: Campus International de Baillarguet
Vincent Muwanika: Makerere University
Charles Masembe: Makerere University
Mikkel Schubert: University of Copenhagen
Josiah Kuja: University of Copenhagen
Liam Quinn: University of Copenhagen
Genís Garcia-Erill: University of Copenhagen
Frederik Filip Stæger: University of Copenhagen
Rianja Rakotoarivony: Campus International de Baillarguet
Margarida Henrique: Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência
Long Lin: University of Copenhagen
Xi Wang: University of Copenhagen
Michael P. Heaton: US Meat Animal Research Center
Timothy P. L. Smith: US Meat Animal Research Center
Kristian Hanghøj: University of Copenhagen
Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding: University of Copenhagen
Anagaw Atickem: Addis Ababa University
Lounès Chikhi: Université Toulouse Paul Sabatier
Christian Roos: Leibniz Institute for Primate Research
Philippe Gaubert: Université Toulouse Paul Sabatier
Hans R. Siegismund: University of Copenhagen
Ida Moltke: University of Copenhagen
Anders Albrechtsen: University of Copenhagen
Rasmus Heller: University of Copenhagen

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Several African mammals exhibit a phylogeographic pattern where closely related taxa are split between West/Central and East/Southern Africa, but their evolutionary relationships and histories remain controversial. Bushpigs (Potamochoerus larvatus) and red river hogs (P. porcus) are recognised as separate species due to morphological distinctions, a perceived lack of interbreeding at contact, and putatively old divergence times, but historically, they were considered conspecific. Moreover, the presence of Malagasy bushpigs as the sole large terrestrial mammal shared with the African mainland raises intriguing questions about its origin and arrival in Madagascar. Analyses of 67 whole genomes revealed a genetic continuum between the two species, with putative signatures of historical gene flow, variable FST values, and a recent divergence time (

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44105-1

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