Early Pleistocene origin and extensive intra-species diversity of the extinct cave lion
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Early Pleistocene origin and extensive intra-species diversity of the extinct cave lion. / Stanton, David W. G.; Alberti, Federica; Plotnikov, Valery; Androsov, Semyon; Grigoriev, Semyon; Fedorov, Sergey; Kosintsev, Pavel; Nagel, Doris; Vartanyan, Sergey; Barnes, Ian; Barnett, Ross; Ersmark, Erik; Doeppes, Doris; Germonpre, Mietje; Hofreiter, Michael; Rosendahl, Wilfried; Skoglund, Pontus; Dalen, Love.
In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, No. 1, 12621, 2020.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Early Pleistocene origin and extensive intra-species diversity of the extinct cave lion
AU - Stanton, David W. G.
AU - Alberti, Federica
AU - Plotnikov, Valery
AU - Androsov, Semyon
AU - Grigoriev, Semyon
AU - Fedorov, Sergey
AU - Kosintsev, Pavel
AU - Nagel, Doris
AU - Vartanyan, Sergey
AU - Barnes, Ian
AU - Barnett, Ross
AU - Ersmark, Erik
AU - Doeppes, Doris
AU - Germonpre, Mietje
AU - Hofreiter, Michael
AU - Rosendahl, Wilfried
AU - Skoglund, Pontus
AU - Dalen, Love
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The cave lion is an extinct felid that was widespread across the Holarctic throughout the Late Pleistocene. Its closest extant relative is the lion (Panthera leo), but the timing of the divergence between these two taxa, as well as their taxonomic ranking are contentious. In this study we analyse 31 mitochondrial genome sequences from cave lion individuals that, through a combination of C-14 and genetic tip dating, are estimated to be from dates extending well into the mid-Pleistocene. We identified two deeply diverged and well-supported reciprocally monophyletic mitogenome clades in the cave lion, and an additional third distinct lineage represented by a single individual. One of these clades was restricted to Beringia while the other was prevalent across western Eurasia. These observed clade distributions are in line with previous observations that Beringian and European cave lions were morphologically distinct. The divergence dates for these lineages are estimated to be far older than those between extant lions subspecies. By combining our radiocarbon tip-dates with a split time prior that takes into account the most up-to-date fossil stem calibrations, we estimated the mitochondrial DNA divergence between cave lions and lions to be 1.85 Million ya (95% 0.52- 2.91 Mya). Taken together, these results support previous hypotheses that cave lions existed as at least two subspecies during the Pleistocene, and that lions and cave lions were distinct species.
AB - The cave lion is an extinct felid that was widespread across the Holarctic throughout the Late Pleistocene. Its closest extant relative is the lion (Panthera leo), but the timing of the divergence between these two taxa, as well as their taxonomic ranking are contentious. In this study we analyse 31 mitochondrial genome sequences from cave lion individuals that, through a combination of C-14 and genetic tip dating, are estimated to be from dates extending well into the mid-Pleistocene. We identified two deeply diverged and well-supported reciprocally monophyletic mitogenome clades in the cave lion, and an additional third distinct lineage represented by a single individual. One of these clades was restricted to Beringia while the other was prevalent across western Eurasia. These observed clade distributions are in line with previous observations that Beringian and European cave lions were morphologically distinct. The divergence dates for these lineages are estimated to be far older than those between extant lions subspecies. By combining our radiocarbon tip-dates with a split time prior that takes into account the most up-to-date fossil stem calibrations, we estimated the mitochondrial DNA divergence between cave lions and lions to be 1.85 Million ya (95% 0.52- 2.91 Mya). Taken together, these results support previous hypotheses that cave lions existed as at least two subspecies during the Pleistocene, and that lions and cave lions were distinct species.
KW - DNA LIBRARY PREPARATION
KW - GENOME SEQUENCE
KW - ANCIENT
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-020-69474-1
DO - 10.1038/s41598-020-69474-1
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 32724178
VL - 10
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
IS - 1
M1 - 12621
ER -
ID: 248895569