Ancestry and genetic differentiation of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on the Isle of Wight.

Abstract

Foxes were presumed absent from the Isle of Wight, UK, until their introduction for sport hunting in the 19th century. We investigated the ancestry of red foxes on the Isle of Wight, UK, by generating a dataset of 53 concatenated D-loop and cytochrome-b mitochondrial DNA sequences which was then compared to a previously published database of European sequences. We also tested for genetic differentiation between the Isle of Wight and other populations throughout Europe. We found evidence that red foxes on the Isle of Wight likely originated from mainland Britain, but that the Isle of Wight population is genetically differentiated from adjacent populations in mainland central southern England. At >1 km across, The Solent serves as a natural barrier to gene flow between the mainland and the Isle of Wight.