Ancient and modern genomes unravel the evolutionary history of the rhinoceros family
Only five species of the once-diverse Rhinocerotidae remain, making the reconstruction of their evolutionary history a challenge to biologists since Darwin. We sequenced genomes from five rhinoceros species (three extinct and two living), which we compared to existing data from the remaining three living species and a range of outgroups. We identify an early divergence between extant African and Eurasian lineages, resolving a key debate regarding the phylogeny of extant rhinoceroses. This early Miocene (∼16 million years ago [mya]) split post-dates the land bridge formation between the Afro-Arabian and Eurasian landmasses. Our analyses also show that while rhinoceros genomes in general exhibit low levels of genome-wide diversity, heterozygosity is lowest and inbreeding is highest in the modern species. These results suggest that while low genetic diversity is a long-term feature of the family, it has been particularly exacerbated recently, likely reflecting recent anthropogenic-driven population declines.
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Other Authors: | |
Format: | artículo biblioteca |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier
2021-09-16
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Subjects: | Rhinoceros, Perissodactyl, Conservation genomics, Phylogenomics, Genomic diversity, |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/251210 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000781 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100011958 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004063 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100009252 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000011 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000923 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003355 |
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Summary: | Only five species of the once-diverse Rhinocerotidae remain, making the reconstruction of their evolutionary history a challenge to biologists since Darwin. We sequenced genomes from five rhinoceros species (three extinct and two living), which we compared to existing data from the remaining three living species and a range of outgroups. We identify an early divergence between extant African and Eurasian lineages, resolving a key debate regarding the phylogeny of extant rhinoceroses. This early Miocene (∼16 million years ago [mya]) split post-dates the land bridge formation between the Afro-Arabian and Eurasian landmasses. Our analyses also show that while rhinoceros genomes in general exhibit low levels of genome-wide diversity, heterozygosity is lowest and inbreeding is highest in the modern species. These results suggest that while low genetic diversity is a long-term feature of the family, it has been particularly exacerbated recently, likely reflecting recent anthropogenic-driven population declines. |
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