Phylogeography of Gazella gazella (Pallas, 1766) distributed in Turkey

The gazelles are under threat of extinction due to hunting, poaching, habitat loss and degradation. There are two species of gazelles in Turkey, the Mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella) and the Sand gazelle (Gazella marica). Both gazelle species are in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and respectively classified as "Endangered" and "Vulnerable". G. gazella is distributed in the Kırıkhan-İncirli region close to the Syrian border, and G. marica in the vicinity of Şanlıurfa. In accordance with this aim, genetic diversity and differentiation between G. gazella populations distributed in Turkey and İsrael were determined using sequence analysis of mtDNA cytochrome-c oxidase III and d-loop. It is also aimed to reveal phylogenetic relationships with other Gazella genus species. Genetic analysis of the population of Hatay revealed insufficient diversity levels and no gene flow with other Israel populations. All nine species within the genus Gazella represented monophyletic clades. The genus Gazella is divided into two main clades. First clade comprising G. gazelle, G. dorcas, G. arabica and G. spekei and second clade comprising G. bennettii, G. subgutturosa, G. marica, G. leptoceros and G. cuvieri. The genetic assessments of this study recognize new conservation priorities for the mountain gazelle species in the Hatay.