A genomic exploration of the early evolution of extant cats and their sabre-toothed relatives

Background: The evolutionary relationships of Felidae during their Early-Middle Miocene radiation is contentious. Although the early common ancestors have been subsumed under the grade-group Pseudaelurus, this group is thought to be paraphyletic, including the early ancestors of both modern cats and...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Westbury, Michael V.|||0000-0003-0478-3930, Barnett, Ross|||0000-0003-4023-0284, Sandoval-Velasco, Marcela|||0000-0002-4635-6171, Gower, Graham|||0000-0002-6197-3872, Garrett Vieira, Filipe|||0000-0002-8464-7770, de Manuel, Marc|||0000-0002-1245-0127, Hansen, Anders Johannes|||0000-0002-1890-2702, Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki|||0000-0002-6492-6588, Werdelin, Lars, Marquès i Bonet, Tomàs|||0000-0002-5597-3075, Gilbert, M. Thomas P.|||0000-0002-5805-7195, Lorenzen, Eline|||0000-0002-6353-2819
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:243635
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/243635
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.12688/openreseurope.13104.2
Access Level:acceso abierto
Descripción
Sumario:Background: The evolutionary relationships of Felidae during their Early-Middle Miocene radiation is contentious. Although the early common ancestors have been subsumed under the grade-group Pseudaelurus, this group is thought to be paraphyletic, including the early ancestors of both modern cats and extinct sabretooths. Methods: Here, we sequenced a draft nuclear genome of Smilodon populator, dated to 13,182 ± 90 cal BP, making this the oldest palaeogenome from South America to date, a region known to be problematic for ancient DNA preservation. We analysed this genome, together with genomes from other extinct and extant cats to investigate their phylogenetic relationships. Results: We confirm a deep divergence (~20.65 Ma) within sabre-toothed cats. Through the analysis of both simulated and empirical data, we show a lack of gene flow between Smilodon and contemporary Felidae. Conclusions: Given that some species traditionally assigned to Pseudaelurus originated in the Early Miocene ~20 Ma, this indicates that some species of Pseudaelurus may be younger than the lineages they purportedly gave rise to, further supporting the hypothesis that Pseudaelurus was paraphyletic.

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