Trans-Atlantic introduction of the Anas Mallard duck (Anas Platyrhynchos) into Nigeria following mtDNA footprints

Apart from the Nigerian indigenous Muscovy duck breed, which is endemic in the country, the Anas mallard is found in fairly abundant numbers, especially in the Northern part of the country. Although the mallard duck is widely perceived to be of exotic extraction, there is a dearth of information about its origin or how they got introduced into the country, leaving the subject to speculation. Hence this study was carried to trace the evolutionary ancestry of the mallard in Nigeria using the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA marker. 603bp region of the mtDNA was analyzed following standard extraction and amplification, with specific primers. 20 Nigerian duck sequences in addition to 20 sequences harvested from Genbank representing major native regions of the Anas platyrhynchos, were used to reconstruct phylogenetic trees and matrices. The results revealed a strong genetic relationship between the Nigerian and Western European, particularly British ducks, and a weak lineage with ducks of Egyptian, Asian and Australasian extraction. The study reveals that the Nigerian mallard ducks are evolutionary descendants of the British mallard, whose ancestors would have been introduced into the country following the North-South trans-Atlantic maritime routes during the colonial era. The study did not find any evidence of a trans-Saharan introduction of the mallard into Nigeria from Asia via Egypt. Findings from this research sheds further light on the global dispersion of the duck from its original evolutionary epicenter in South-East Asia, and may be used for designing breeding programs.