The Saola genome is mapped for the first time

Is it off, or does it still move in the forests of the misty highlands of Vietnam and Laos? He was nicknamed Asian unicorn because of its almost mythical rarity, and it is the most recently discovered of terrestrial mammals, becoming science until 1992.

Even then, he was already in danger. Today, even the most optimistic estimates say that less than 100 SAOLA individuals (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) remain, but it could also be extinguished now. The last observation confirmed in nature took place in 2013.

Researchers have been looking for it since then, but so far without success. The task is made even more difficult by the fact that the Saola lives only in the distant and robust forests of the Annamite mountains in Vietnam and Laos.

“At the moment, the existence of living salas cannot be proven or reflexive. The last proof that we were of 2013, when we were captured on a camera trap. But given the distance from your habitat, it is extremely difficult to say with certainty if there are still a few.

He is one of the authors of a new international study, in which researchers from Denmark, Vietnam and many other countries have mapped the genome of the Saola for the first time. So far, almost no genetic data on the Sala has been generated. The study is published in the journal Cell.

By analyzing the fragments of Saola, the remains of hunters’ households, the researchers have generated complete genomes for 26 salas. This has provided new perspectives on the history of the enigmatic cattle and its future perspectives.

How could it survive

“We were quite surprised to note that the Sala is divided into two populations with considerable genetic differences. The split occurred between 5,000 and 20,000 years. This was completely unknown before, and there was no way to know without genetic data. Student in the Biology Department.

Genetic analyzes also show that the two populations have been decreasing since the last ice age. According to researchers’ estimates, the total population of Saola has never exceeded 5,000 people in the past 10,000 years. And this long -term decline means that the two populations have started to lose genetic diversity. But above all, they have not lost the same genetic diversity.

“This means that the genetic variation lost in each population completes the other. So, if you mix them, they could compensate for what the other lacks,” explains Garcia Erill.

And this could potentially be the solution to save the Saola from extinction. The researchers calculated the probability that the species will survive in various conservation scenarios.

Their models show that the best chances of survival occur if the two populations are mixed in a captivity reproduction program.

“If we can bring together at least a dozen salas – ideally a mixture of the two populations – to train the basics of a future population, our models show that the species would have a decent long -term survival program. But it depends on the location of certain people and the creation of a reproduction program. Which has already worked when the species have been on the Brink of Extinction”, said Rasmus Heller, The study and partner of the Ministry of Biology of UCH.

But does it still exist?

Finding 12 salas, however, is not a simple task. But the new research could help solve this problem. Genetic cartography opens up new possibilities to use various technologies to locate the last remaining salas.

“Many researchers have tried without success to find traces of Saola by methods such as environmental DNA in water and even in leeches, blood lollipops living in the same habitat. University.

But even if it turns out that the Sala is turned off, the new results of the research could always be useful:

“Our results could in theory be used if we should never succeed in bringing the SAOLA through genetic de-extinction technologies, which are a burning subject in this case, in this case, our new ideas on the genetic variation of Saola could make a huge difference in the creation of a viable population,” explains Heller.

However, he has doubts about the chances of finding a living Sala.

“Scientists have been looking for salas since the 1990s, and it has only become more difficult since then, because there were more at the time. I am not too optimistic, I have to admit it – but I really hope that the Saola is still there,” concludes Heller.

About the Saola:

• Le Saola (Pseudoryx Nghetinhensis) was discovered by science in 1992, which most recently discovered him of Grand Mammal. The second most recent was Kouprey, discovered in 1937.
• Danish and Vietnamese biologists worked together to study the Secret Saola from the start – starting the scientific description of the Saola in the early 1990s.
• According to the IUCN, less than 100 individuals probably remain, making Saola one of the most threatened mammals in the world.
• The Sala is evolving – it is on a branch of 12 to 15 million dollars of the Tree of Life and is the only surviving descendant of this branch.