Research overview: feline immunodeficiency virus as a tracer of puma dispersal and connectivity

Because feline immunodeficiency virus evolves rapidly and is transmitted through fighting, its genetic signal can reveal how pumas move across fragmented landscapes. This overview surveys studies that use FIV phylogenetics as a molecular tag to infer cougar dispersal, colonization of new territory and population connectivity at finer resolution than slow host markers provide. It covers how viral strains cluster geographically, how recolonization events leave detectable viral signatures, and how barriers like highways shape both host and virus spread. The synthesis frames FIV as a dual-purpose tool, illuminating both disease ecology and landscape genetics. It aims to show enthusiasts how an endemic virus doubles as a natural data logger of the secretive movements and population history of North and South American pumas.