Speaker: Gözde Çilingir, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich
Title: Genomic approaches in the conservation of Aldabra giant tortoises
Abstract: Aldabra giant tortoises are one of the two giant tortoise species left in the world. Their natural distribution is restricted to the Aldabra Atoll, located northwest of Madagascar. They have been successfully used in rewilding projects on several Western Indian Ocean Islands, whose endemic giant tortoise species are now extinct. My work focuses on producing high-quality genomic resources (such as a reference genome) and understanding the genetic structure and variation left in the wild and rewilded populations by using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing approaches.