FIRST ACCOUNT ON MATERNAL LINEAGE OF ANDAMAN WILD BOAR (MOUPIN PIG), AN ENDANGERED ENDEMIC SPECIES OF ANDAMAN ARCHIPELAGO

This communication is the first report on mitochondrial lineage of Andaman wild boar based on mitochondrial D-loop sequence information. Andaman wild boar is an endangered endemic species of Andaman & Nicobar archipelago. D-loop sequence information of Andaman wild boar (MT024628-29) was compared with endemic Sus species of Southeast Asia, Eurasian clades of wild boar and Indian wild boar characterized from mainland of India. Phylogenetic analysis, median joining (MJ) network and genetic distance analysis revealed that Andaman wild boar belonged to S. scrofa. Earlier literature suggested that Eurasian wild boars are clustered into five clades. Our analysis revealed that Andaman wild boar had the least genetic distance with Asiatic clade and had the highest genetic distance with the Italian clade. This data was further supported by pairwise Fst. Phylogenetic analysis, MJ network and PCA plot could identify genetic affinity of Andaman wild boar with Asiatic clade of wild boar. Interestingly, Andaman wild boar clustered with wild boars found in two specified geographical regions of India. This may be justified as leftover of cultural diffusion during c. 500/ 400 BCE.