Today’s alpine ibex are descended from just two maternal lineages. | Image: Stefan Gerth/Keystone

Intensive hunting brought the alpine ibex to the verge of extinction 200 years ago. Only 100 animals were left. Today, this species numbers over 50,000 once again, but their genetic diversity has shrunk considerably. A comparison of 60 modern and 15 historical DNA samples shows that only two out of at least 12 original maternal lineages have survived.

“The species is doing well at present, despite their genetic impoverishment”, says Christine Grossen from the University of Zurich, who is heading a research project into the species. But this lack of genetic variation could have negative consequences in the event of a disease outbreak or environmental changes.

M. Robin et al.: Ancient mitochondrial and modern whole genomes unravel massive genetic diversity loss during near extinction of Alpine ibex. Molecular Ecology (2022)