Tracking a voyager: mitochondrial DNA analyses reveal mainland-to-island dispersal of an American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) across the Caribbean

Conservation efforts have allowed American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) populations to recover to the pointthat dispersal movements are beginning to be documented. The environmental authority of San Andres Island inColombia reported, for the first time, the arrival of two C. acutus from unknown localities in 2012 and 2018. Theformer was sacrificed, and the latter was captured and kept in captivity to determining its potential origin. We usedwildlife forensics to establish the origin of the animal that arrived in 2018 based on two mitochondrial genes (COIand Cytb). Additionally, five other samples from Tayrona National Natural Park (TNNP), and Salamanca IslandRoad Park (SIRP) were sequenced for molecular attribution of these populations to the currently described lineages.Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses showed that the American crocodile found in San Andrés belongs to acontinental evolutionary lineage endemic to Colombia, showing also a strong genetic similarity with animals