The humble Australian koala was listed as an extinct animal in South Australia in the early 1900s, hounded from its home and shot on sight. In the 1930s researchers established colonies on Kangaroo Island to restore numbers, and now the state's populations are all deratives from the colony. In the eastern states of Australia, the koala is listed as endangered as the urban sprawl continues to engulf their natural habitats. On Wednesday, 28 November 2012, you can help monitor the population of koalas in South Australia with our Great Koala Count

Microsatellite genotpyes for tammar wallabies from Kangaroo Island and Garden IslandMicrosatellite genotypes for autosomal (chromosome 2), X-linked and Y-linked loci. Data for two tammar wallaby populations: Kangaroo Island, South Australia (KI) and Garden Island, Western Australia (GI). "All loci" tab has data for 29 loci, with missing data denoted by "-9" and sexes denoted "M" for male and "F" for female. Three other tabs have data in GenAlEx input format for chromosomes 2, X and Y respectively. These only include data for polymorphic loci without significant LD as were used in population genetic analyses. Missing data here are denoted by "0".MacDonald_TammarWallabySexChromMicrosats_Data.xlsx

In polymorphic species, population divergence in morph composition and frequency has the potential to promote speciation. We assessed the relationship between geographic variation in male throat colour polymorphism and phylogeographic structure in the tawny dragon lizard, Ctenophorus decresii. We identified four genetically distinct lineages, corresponding to two polymorphic lineages in the Northern Flinders Ranges and Southern Flinders Ranges/Olary Ranges regions respectively, and a monomorphic lineage in the Mt Lofty Ranges/Kangaroo Island region. The degree of divergence between these three lineages was consistent with isolation to multiple refugia during Pleistocene glacial cycles, whereas a fourth, deeply divergent (at the interspecific level) and monomorphic lineage was restricted to western New South Wales. The same four morphs occurred in both polymorphic lineages, although populations exhibited considerable variation in the frequency of morphs. By contrast, male throat coloration in the monomorphic lineages differed from each other and from the polymorphic lineages. Our results suggest that colour polymorphism has evolved once in the C. decresii species complex, with subsequent loss of polymorphism in the Mt Lofty Ranges/Kangaroo Island lineage. However, an equally parsimonious scenario, that polymorphism arose independently twice within C. decresii, could not be ruled out. We also detected evidence of a narrow contact zone with limited genotypic admixture between the polymorphic Olary Ranges and monomorphic Mt Lofty Ranges regions, yet no individuals of intermediate colour phenotype. Such genetic divergence and evidence for barriers to gene flow between lineages suggest incipient speciation between populations that differ in morph composition.