 Reference Base  Conservation genetics of the black rhinoceros (Diceros bi... |
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World |
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Genetics |
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White Rhino |
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Differences in Ceratotherium simum. These findings for the black rhino stand in sharp contrast to the level and distribution of mtDNA differences reported for the white rhino. The southern white rhino, Ceratotberium simum simum, has recovered quite well from a population bottleneck that occurred at the turn of the century, and now more than 3,000 members of this population can be found in South Africa and other African countries (Penny 1988). The status of the northern white rhino, Ceratotberium simum cottoni, is much bleaker, with only 22 individuals known to exist in the wild (Western 1987). Management plans originally proposed supplementing the northern race with members from the southern population. Based on a survey of one individual from each of the two races, however, George et al. (1983) reported a very high level of mtDNA divergence (approximately 4.0% ). Partially as a result of this study, managers decided against interbreeding the two races. Unlike the black rhino, the white rhino subspecies have existed in nonoverlapping ranges, at least during historical times. George et al suggest, on the basis of their molecular data, that the two white rhino subspecies have been isolated from each other for at least two million years. However, recent research on variability of nuclear-coded allozymes found little differentiation between the northern and southern subspecies (Merenlender et al. 1989), suggesting a more recent isolation.
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