Are Polecat Ferret Hybrids Good For Conservation Earlham Institute

Are Polecat Ferret Hybrids Good For Conservation Earlham Institute Tags: conservation, genomics, vertebrates, hiddenbiodiversity. earlham institute scientists have been ferreting around for signs of hybridisation between native polecats and their domesticated ancestors. the findings hint at some controversial ways we might protect and support wild polecats and many other species at risk of extinction. 17 february 2016. graham etherington. unseen in areas for more than a hundred years, the european polecat (mustela putorius) has recolonised over extensive parts of the uk. recently hitting the news headlines, the native british species of the mustelid family is back. a close relative of the ferret (mustela putorius furo), the european polecat.

Are Polecat Ferret Hybrids Good For Conservation Earlham Institute For example, the black footed ferret (mustela nigripes), whose population size recently plummeted to as low as only seven individuals, is susceptible to diseases not known to affect other ferret or polecat species. this may well be due to inbreeding depression and genetic drift with a subsequent loss of advantageous alleles in genes responsible for fighting disease. From the genetics of domestication to conservation genomics and searching for new elements associated with disease, there’s lots to be discovered! how do you spot a polecat ferret hybrid. The black footed ferret once numbered only seven individuals. credit: graham etherington. genetic rescue. so what can we do with the information obtained from a conservation genomics approach?. Polecats in england are hybrid ferrets. and formal protection under the wildlife and countryside act 1981 have contributed to polecat recovery. says graham etherington at the earlham.