Abstract How and when dingoes arrived in Oceania poses
a fascinating question for scientists with interest in the
historical movements of humans and dogs. The dingo holds
a unique position as top terrestrial predator of Australia and
exists in a wild state. In the first geographical survey of
genetic diversity in the dingo using whole mitochondrial
genomes, we analysed 16,428 bp in 25 individuals from
five separate populations. We also investigated 13 nuclear
loci to compare with the mitochondrial population history
patterns. Phylogenetic analyses based upon mitochondrial
DNA and nuclear DNA support the hypothesis that there
are at least two distinct populations of dingo, one of which
occurs in the northwest and the other in the southeast of the
continent. Conservative molecular dating based upon
mitochondrial DNA suggest that the lineages split
approximately 8300 years before present, likely outside
Australia but within Oceania. The close relationship
between dingoes and New Guinea Singing Dogs suggests
that plausibly dingoes spread into Australia via the land
bridge between Papua New Guinea and Australia although
seafaring introductions cannot be rejected. The geographical
distribution of these divergent lineages suggests there
were multiple independent dingo immigrations. Importantly,
the observation of multiple dingo populationssuggests the need for revision of existing conservation and
management programs that treat dingoes as a single
homogeneous population.