SPUR Project

2008 Winner (9 of 15)

Development of Genetic Markers for Analysis of Hippopotamus Subspecies
Supervisors: Dr David Hughes (Biomedical Science), Sarah Bottom (Animal and Equine Science)

The hippopotamus has been maintained in captivity in the UK since 1850, and now many zoos and safari parks have hippopotamus colonies, although it is highly likely that these may comprise several sub-species and hence include zoo hybrids. A collaborative project was established between Dr. D. Hughes, Dr. Sarah Bottom, and West Midlands Safari Park to develop a set of genetic tools for analysis of the hippopotamus, including mtDNA and Y chromosome analysis for sub-species identification, and sex determination. The student’s task was to build on this work and to develop assays for assessing the level of genetic variation in captive hippopotamus populations, by distinguishing between sub-species, and between individual animals. The assays are akin to the DNA fingerprinting technologies used in human Forensic identification.

Project poster