Retraction Note: Genomic divergence of leopards in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa: potential drivers for local adaptation

Retraction Note to: Heredity https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-026-00822-z published online 24 January 2026
Following publication, concerns were raised regarding the lack of appropriate permissions for the transfer of reported tissue samples. The authors were contacted and asked to provide an explanation and documentation confirming all required permissions; however, it is noted that some permissions are missing.
Furthermore, the data availability statement contains a non-functional DRYAD link for raw sequence data (fq.gz) https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.12jm63z6v The raw sequence data for all samples in this study is instead available at the European Nucleotide Archive: ENA Browser.
Laura Tensen, Anubhab Khan and Kathryn S. Williams disagree with this retraction. Jacqueline Bishop did not state explicitly whether they agree or disagree with this retraction. None of remaining authors has responded to any correspondence from Publisher regarding this retraction notice.
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Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Tensen, L., Khan, A., Sarabia, C. et al. Retraction Note: Genomic divergence of leopards in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa: potential drivers for local adaptation. Heredity (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-026-00883-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-026-00883-0

Facts Only

*Heredity* article DOI is 10.1038/s41437-026-00822-z.
Concerns arose about permissions for transferring reported tissue samples post-publication.
Authors were requested to provide documentation confirming required permissions.
Some necessary permissions were noted as missing.
A non-functional DRYAD link was provided for raw sequence data (fq.gz).
Raw sequence data for all samples is available at the European Nucleotide Archive: ENA Browser.
Laura Tensen, Anubhab Khan, and Kathryn S. Williams disagree with the retraction.
No remaining authors responded to Publisher correspondence on the retraction notice.
The article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Executive Summary

Concerns were raised following the publication of an article in *Heredity* regarding the lack of appropriate permissions for transferring reported tissue samples. Authors were asked to provide an explanation and documentation, but some required permissions were missing. Furthermore, the data availability statement linked a DRYAD resource for raw sequence data (fq.gz), but the raw sequence data for all samples was instead made available via the European Nucleotide Archive: ENA Browser. Laura Tensen, Anubhab Khan, and Kathryn S. Williams disagreed with the retraction notice, though no remaining authors responded to Publisher correspondence regarding it.

Full Take

The situation involves a dispute over data handling practices—specifically permissions for tissue samples and data accessibility—following publication in a peer-reviewed venue. The disagreement among some authors highlights the friction between scholarly dissemination and administrative compliance regarding data sharing and provenance. The shift from a direct repository link (DRYAD) to an institutional archive (ENA) introduces a practical layer of complexity, raising questions about the integrity and usability of the data documentation itself. The silence from remaining authors suggests a potential pattern where administrative disputes are managed outside the primary scholarly discourse, potentially sidelining full transparency in the attribution process. This points toward a systemic tension: the ideal of open science versus the reality of institutional or administrative gatekeeping over sensitive biological material. The failure to establish consistent communication regarding these necessary permissions and data links suggests that the architecture for managing post-publication responsibilities needs reinforcement to ensure cognitive sovereignty is maintained across all scholarly endeavors, regardless of which platform is cited.

Sentinel — Human

Confidence

The text appears to be a verbatim or near-verbatim excerpt from an official scientific retraction notice, indicating a high likelihood of human authorship in its presentation.

Signals Detected

Slightly formal, legalistic tone typical of scientific retraction notices.

Direct, factual reporting on a specific academic event with clear procedural elements.

Standard citation and attribution structure found in academic communication.

The text functions as a standardized notification based on external academic decisions (retraction, data availability).

Human Indicators

Specific references to DOIs, author names, journal titles, and licensing terms suggest direct reference to an established academic document.