Global phylogeographic comparisons and dietary analyses of gray wolf and red fox from Sarıkamış and Yenice in Turkey using genetics and genomics approaches

Abstract

In this study, the genetic diversity of Turkish gray wolf (Canis lupus) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) from two locations in Turkey (Sarıkamış and Yenice), and their phylogeographic relationships with the rest of the world were evaluated based on D-loop sequences of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In addition, the dietary profile of those two species was examined using an NGSbased DNA metabarcoding approach. Our gray wolf results showed that Kars-Caucasus and KarsKarabük samples were genetically similar to each other. For red fox samples, haplotype and nucleotide diversities in Kars were found to be low. In addition, global distributions of haplotypes were detected in the haplotype network and phylogenetic trees, and the haplotypes from Kars/Turkey formed groups with these global haplotypes, without much local structuring. The results of dietary habits for gray wolves showed the following categories: mammals (red deer), amphibia (frogs), the family Aves (Passeriformes and non-Passeriformes), and plants (wheat, rose family, buttercup, beech family, the family Poaceae). On the other hand, the diet composition of red foxes included the family Aves (Passeriformes) and plants (wheat and rose family). Our results of the vertebrate and plant dietary content for the gray wolf and red fox are in concordance with the literature. In addition, the evidence of frog as prey item for gray wolves is evidence of sub-optimal feeding behaviour, potentially suggesting the scarcity of adequate food resources in Sarıkamış and Yenice Forests.