Species Determination of Captive Sugar Gliders (Petaurus breviceps s.l.) Bred in Europe

Bc. Miroslav Mulko

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Molecular genetics and bioacoustics have been proven to be very efficient monitoring methods, especially for passive monitoring. Recent advancements in these techniques together with morphometric analyses have led to the discovery of new cryptic species. This phenomenon is particularly common in nocturnal mammals, such as the sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps s.l.). Based on morphology, it was believed that the sugar glider is a polytypic species with seven subspecies. However, molecular studies suggested the existence of cryptic species within this taxon. From the conservation perspective, this is crucial as the species with widespread distribution in the past is now limited only to certain areas. With the increasing popularity of sugar gliders in the pet trade, the evaluation of the species' status and origin is important to prevent hybridization between differentiated lineages. In the thesis, we have focused on determining the species status and origin of sugar gliders in captivity by molecular genetics using the ND2 and ND4 mitochondrial genes and ω-globin, along with assessing the species-specificity of the barking calls of wild populations and comparing them with recordings from captivity. The phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relationship between captive populations from Europe and the USA. Both populations were closely associated to the samples from Kai Besar Island suggesting that the origin of both captive populations might be from Indonesia or Papua New Guinea. Based on mitochondrial genes, high haplotype and relatively low nucleotide diversity were observed within the captive populations, implying the potential of repeated imports of animals from several source localities. Moreover, the barking call was described as a stereotypical call, which is characterized by the repetition of uniform syllables. However, no clear specificity of this call was found under the utilization of comparative analyses of recordings between the wild and captive populations. Nevertheless, vocalizations differed in a single parameter, suggesting that wild sugar gliders bark more rapidly.

Keywords

bioacoustics, DNA markers, Marsupiala, Petaurus breviceps, sugar glider, systematics

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 28. 4. 2024

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 3. 6. 2024
• Supervisor: Mgr. Barbora Černá Bolfíková, Ph.D.
• Reader: Jan Robovský, Bc., externi

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / specializace:
Wildlife and Livestock Production, Management and Conservation / Wildlife Management and Conservation