Data from: Understanding geographic origins and history of admixture among chimpanzees in European zoos, with implications for future breeding programmes

Despite ample focus on this endangered species, conservation planning for chimpanzees residing outside Africa has proven a challenge because of the lack of ancestry information. Here, we analysed the largest number of chimpanzee samples to date, examining microsatellites in >100 chimpanzees from the range of the species in Africa, and 20% of the European zoo population. We applied the knowledge about subspecies differentiation throughout equatorial Africa to assign origin to chimpanzees in the largest conservation management programme globally. A total of 63% of the genotyped chimpanzees from the European zoos could be assigned to one of the recognized subspecies. The majority being of West African origin (40%) will help consolidate the current breeding programme for this subspecies and the identification of individuals belonging to the two other subspecies so far found in European zoos can form the basis for breeding programmes for these. Individuals of various degree of mixed ancestry made up 37% of the genotyped European zoo population and thus highlight the need for appropriate management programmes guided by genetic analysis to preserve maximum genetic diversity and reduce hybridization among subspecies.尽管学界对这一濒危黑猩猩物种已给予充分关注，但由于缺乏血统起源信息，针对非洲以外栖息地的黑猩猩开展保护规划始终是一项难题。本研究分析了截至目前规模最大的黑猩猩样本集：对来自非洲全分布范围内的100余只黑猩猩，以及欧洲动物园种群20%的个体进行了微卫星（microsatellite）标记分析。我们依托赤道非洲地区黑猩猩亚种分化的研究成果，为全球规模最大的黑猩猩保护管理项目中的个体追溯起源。经基因分型的欧洲动物园黑猩猩中，共有63%可被归类至已确认的亚种之一。其中40%的个体起源于西非，这将有助于完善该亚种当前的繁育计划；而此前在欧洲动物园中发现的另外两个亚种的个体，其身份鉴定也可为对应亚种的繁育项目奠定基础。拥有不同程度混血血统的个体占经基因分型欧洲动物园种群的37%，这凸显了开展以遗传分析为指导的科学管理计划的必要性，以最大限度保留遗传多样性并降低亚种间的杂交风险。