{
  "abstract": "Background: Gorillas are a group of African great apes with two species and four subspecies that are currently critically endangered or endangered. Previous studies analyzing the genetics of wild gorillas from non-invasive samples such as faeces or hair have analysed short mitochondrial or nuclear markers, which may not reflect the wider nuclear genome. Recent technical advances in target capture hybridisation, enrich the endogenous DNA content of non-invasive samples, allowing contiguous genomic regions to be sequenced.\n\nResults: Here, we generate georeferenced genetic dataset from faecal and hair samples of 280 wild gorillas, sampled from three of the four gorilla subspecies, across large parts of their present-day distributions. With this expanded representation of gorilla genetic diversity in the wild, we detect three population clusters in western lowland gorillas, with the Sangha River and its affluents acting as significant barriers to gene flow. We reconstruct patterns of past population connectivity between western lowland gorillas in the north-eastern distribution range and Cross River gorillas, which may have been facilitated by a migration corridor also used by the Central and Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee subspecies. Finally, we predict the geographic origins of wild-born gorillas, achieving a mean prediction error of 65 km, with a population-level resolution for mountain gorillas and some populations of western lowland gorillas.\n\nConclusion: Our work characterises fine-scale population structure in western lowland gorillas, which will be informative for future conservation strategies. This proof-of-concept in predicting geographic locations of wild gorillas, will be useful for future applications to geolocalise trafficked or rescued gorillas.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 76,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Irune Ruiz-Gartzia"
    },
    {
      "name": "Harvinder Pawar"
    },
    {
      "name": "Marina Alvarez-Estape"
    },
    {
      "name": "Joseph D. Orkin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Pol Alentorn-Moron"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sandra Ruibal-Puertas"
    },
    {
      "name": "Harrison J. Ostridge"
    },
    {
      "name": "Claudia Fontsere"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sebastian Cuadros-Espinoza"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kirsten Gilardi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Julius Nziza"
    },
    {
      "name": "Richard Muvunyi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ulrich Maloueki"
    },
    {
      "name": "Damien Caillaud"
    },
    {
      "name": "Neetha Iyer"
    },
    {
      "name": "Urban Ngobobo-As-Ibungu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Escobar Binyinyi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Etienne François Akomo-Okoue"
    },
    {
      "name": "Augustin K. Basabose"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kamungu Sebulimbwa"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alfred Ngomanda"
    },
    {
      "name": "Juichi Yamagiwa"
    },
    {
      "name": "Miho Inoue-Murayama"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yuji Takenoshita"
    },
    {
      "name": "Shiho Fujita"
    },
    {
      "name": "Barbora Pafco"
    },
    {
      "name": "Terence Fuh"
    },
    {
      "name": "Nikki Tagg"
    },
    {
      "name": "Donald Mbohli"
    },
    {
      "name": "Emmanuel Ayuk Ayimisin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Emma Bailey"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mattia Bessone"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tobias Deschner"
    },
    {
      "name": "Paula Dieguez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Emmanuel Dilambaka"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andrew Dunn"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anne-Celine Granjon"
    },
    {
      "name": "Josephine Head"
    },
    {
      "name": "Veerle Hermans"
    },
    {
      "name": "Inaoyom Imong"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kathryn J. Jeffery"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kevin Lee"
    },
    {
      "name": "Giovanna Maretti"
    },
    {
      "name": "David Morgan"
    },
    {
      "name": "Emily Neil"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christopher Orbell"
    },
    {
      "name": "Martha M. Robbins"
    },
    {
      "name": "Crickette Sanz"
    },
    {
      "name": "Nadege Wange Njomen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jacob Willie"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ndelani Nkalla Lambi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Barthélémy Ngoubangoye"
    },
    {
      "name": "Larson Boundenga"
    },
    {
      "name": "Franck Prugnolle"
    },
    {
      "name": "Olivia Cheronet"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ron Pinhasi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ivo Glynne Gut"
    },
    {
      "name": "Marta Gut"
    },
    {
      "name": "Karine A. Viaud-Martinez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Virginie Rougeron"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f1t3t3x69x0e7.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1186/s13059-026-04305-6",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "f1t3t3x69x0e7",
  "issns": [
    "1474-760X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-026-04305-6",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1311|Genetic diversity and population structure"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222363789",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-15",
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f1t3t3x69x0e7.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:06Z",
      "native_id": "10.1186/s13059-026-04305-6",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-026-04305-6"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1311|Genetic diversity and population structure",
      "subfield": "genetics-genomics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Non-invasive genomic sampling uncovers novel connectivities and origins of confiscated gorillas",
  "title_text": "Non-invasive genomic sampling uncovers novel connectivities and origins of confiscated gorillas",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:06Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f1t3t3x69x0e7",
  "venue": "Genome Biology",
  "versions": []
}