Abstract:
Genomes retain records of demographic changes and evolutionary forces that shape species and
populations. Remnant populations of African bufalo (Syncerus cafer) in South Africa, with varied
histories, provide an opportunity to investigate signatures left in their genomes by past events, both
recent and ancient. Here, we produce 40 low coverage (7.14×) genome sequences of Cape bufalo (S.
c. cafer) from four protected areas in South Africa. Genome-wide heterozygosity was the highest for
any mammal for which these data are available, while diferences in individual inbreeding coefcients
refected the severity of historical bottlenecks and current census sizes in each population. PSMC
analysis revealed multiple changes in Ne between approximately one million and 20 thousand years
ago, corresponding to paleoclimatic changes and Cape bufalo colonisation of southern Africa. The
results of this study have implications for bufalo management and conservation, particularly in the
context of the predicted increase in aridity and temperature in southern Africa over the next century
as a result of climate change.
