Clinical haematology, biochemistry profiles and erythrocytic morphometry of confiscated Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) in the Centre for Rehabilitation and Quarantine of Confiscated Animals, Wildlife and Alien Species, Thailand

Every year, ten thousand Sunda Pangolins (Manis javanica) are rescued and confiscated from the illegal trade around Southeast Asia, including Thailand. Most of them are usually moribund and need intensive veterinary interventions to recover their health before being released to the wild. However, a lack of reliable haematology and clinical biochemistry references for Thai confiscated Sunda pangolins is a major difficulty for reaching this goal. The aim of this study was to establish a standard panel of haematology and serum biochemistry profiles used for confiscated pangolins in Thailand. Coccygeal venepuncture of 52 confiscated pangolins was performed. Haematology and serum biochemistry data acquisitions were made using automated blood analysers. The lower and upper limits at 90% confidence interval were calculated. The means of all parameters were calculated and then compared with those in two previous studies (p < 0.005). Blood corpuscle morphometry was done manually. All blood corpuscles in females were bigger than males. There were differences of haematologic and biochemical parameters among this study and previous studies in some aspects. Wide scientific discussion was made to explain these variations. A panel of haematology and serum biochemistry profiles for Thai confiscated Sunda pangolin has been established. Veterinarians can refer to all parameters to evaluate the animals’ health and diseases

Data from: Strong and stable geographic differentiation of swamp buffalo maternal and paternal lineages indicates domestication in the China/Indochina border region

The swamp type of the Asian water buffalo is assumed to have been domesticated by about 4000 years BP, following the introduction of rice cultivation. Previous localizations of the domestication site were based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation within China, accounting only for the maternal lineage. We carried out a comprehensive sampling of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh and sequenced the mtDNA Cytochrome b gene and control region and the Y-chromosomal ZFY, SRY and DBY sequences. Swamp buffalo has a higher diversity of both maternal and paternal lineages than river buffalo, with also a remarkable contrast between a weak phylogeographic structure of river buffalo and a strong geographic differentiation of swamp buffalo. The highest diversity of the swamp buffalo maternal lineages was found in South China and North Indochina on both banks of the Mekong River, while the highest diversity in paternal lineages was in the China-Indochina border region. We propose that domestication in this region was later followed by introgressive capture of wild cows west of the Mekong. Migration to the north followed the Yangtze valley as well as a more eastern route, but also involved translocations of both cows and bulls over large distances with a minor influence of river buffaloes in recent decades. Bayesian analyses of various migration models also supported domestication in the China-Indochina border region. Coalescence analysis yielded consistent estimates for the expansion of the major swamp buffalo haplogroups with a credibility interval of 900 to 3,900 years BP. The spatial differentiation of mtDNA and Y-chromosomal haplotype distributions indicates a lack of gene flow between established populations that is unprecedented in livestock

Strong and stable geographic differentiation of swamp buffalo maternal and paternal lineages indicates domestication in the China/Indochina border region

The swamp type of the Asian water buffalo is assumed to have been domesticated by about 4000 years BP, following the introduction of rice cultivation. Previous localizations of the domestication site were based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation within China, accounting only for the maternal lineage. We carried out a comprehensive sampling of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh and sequenced the mtDNA Cytochrome b gene and control region and the Y-chromosomal ZFY, SRY and DBY sequences. Swamp buffalo has a higher diversity of both maternal and paternal lineages than river buffalo, with also a remarkable contrast between a weak phylogeographic structure of river buffalo and a strong geographic differentiation of swamp buffalo. The highest diversity of the swamp buffalo maternal lineages was found in south China and north Indochina on both banks of the Mekong River, while the highest diversity in paternal lineages was in the China/Indochina border region. We propose that domestication in this region was later followed by introgressive capture of wild cows west of the Mekong. Migration to the north followed the Yangtze valley as well as a more eastern route, but also involved translocations of both cows and bulls over large distances with a minor influence of river buffaloes in recent decades. Bayesian analyses of various migration models also supported domestication in the China/Indochina border region. Coalescence analysis yielded consistent estimates for the expansion of the major swamp buffalo haplogroups with a credibility interval of 900 to 3900 years BP. The spatial differentiation of mtDNA and Y-chromosomal haplotype distributions indicates a lack of gene flow between established populations that is unprecedented in livestock

Data files used in the paper

A zip file including data sets and input files for various analysis methods

mtDNA Haplotype Sequence Alignment

Swamp type and river type haplotype alignments. These data were used to generate Fig.S1

input file for skyline plot anlaysis

This is an example input file for skyline plot ananlysi