Last exit before the brink: Conservation genomics of the Cambodian population of the critically endangered southern river terrapin

Abstract

The southern river terrapin, Batagur affinis is one of the world's 25 most endangered freshwater turtle species. The major portion of the global population is currently found in peninsular Malaysia, with the only remnant Indochinese population in southern Cambodia. For more than a decade, wild nests in this remnant Cambodian population have been fenced and hatchlings reared in captivity. Here we amplified 10 microsatellite markers from all 136 captive individuals, obtained 2,658 presumably unlinked and neutral single nucleotide polymorphisms from 72 samples with ddRAD-seq, and amplified 784 bp of mtDNA from 50 samples. Our results reveal that the last Indochinese population comprised only four kinship groups as of 2012, with all offspring sired from '10 individuals in the wild. We demonstrate an obvious decrease in genetic contributions of breeders in the wild from 2006–2012 and identify high-value breeders instrumental for ex-situ management of the contemporary genetic stock of the species. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.