Ancient DNA evidence for the loss of a highly divergent brown bear clade during historical times.

• Published in: Molecular Ecology
• Main Authors: Calvignac, Sébastien, Hughes, Sandrine, Tougard, Christelle, Michaux, Jacques, Thevenot, Michel, Philippe, Michel, Hamdine, Watik, Hänni, Catherine
• Other Authors: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon (IGFL), École normale supérieure - Lyon (ENS Lyon)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Biogéosciences UMR 6282 Dijon (BGS), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud ), Centre de Conservation et d'Étude sur les Collections (CCEC), Muséeum d'Histoire Naturelle, Work supported by the CNRS (eclipse program), University Lyon I and the programme ‘Dynamique évolutive des espèces fractionnées, insulaires et invasives' of the EPHE. Contribution ISEM 2006–085.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2008
• Subjects: ancient DNA; brown bear; Holocene; mtDNA; North Africa; phylogeography; MESH: Africa; Northern; MESH: Animals; MESH: Sequence Alignment; MESH: Ursidae; MESH: Variation (Genetics); MESH: Base Sequence; MESH: Cytochromes b; MESH: DNA; Mitochondrial; MESH: Extinction; Biological; MESH: Fossils; MESH: Molecular Sequence Data; MESH: Phylogeny; MESH: Polymerase Chain Reaction; [SDV.GEN.GPO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Genetics/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE]; [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology; [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics; Phylogenetics and taxonomy; Ursus arctos
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00287307; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.03631.x

9 pages International audience The genetic diversity of present-day brown bears (Ursus arctos) has been extensively studied over the years and appears to be geographically structured into five main clades. The question of the past diversity of the species has been recently addressed by ancient DNA studies that concluded to a relative genetic stability over the last 35,000 years. However, the post-last glacial maximum genetic diversity of the species still remains poorly documented, notably in the Old World. Here, we analyse Atlas brown bears, which became extinct during the Holocene period. A divergent brown bear mitochondrial DNA lineage not present in any of the previously studied modern or ancient bear samples was uncovered, suggesting that the diversity of U. arctos was larger in the past than it is now. Specifically, a significant portion (with respect to sequence divergence) of the intraspecific diversity of the brown bear was lost with the extinction of the Atlas brown bear after the Pleistocene/Holocene transition.