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 de Lyon (ENS de 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 (BGS), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-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), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), 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: DNA; Mitochondrial; MESH: Extinction; Biological; MESH: Fossils; MESH: Molecular Sequence Data; MESH: Phylogeny; MESH: Polymerase Chain Reaction; MESH: Sequence Alignment; MESH: Ursidae; MESH: Variation (Genetics); MESH: Base Sequence; MESH: Cytochromes b; [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.science/hal-00287307; https://hal.science/hal-00287307/document; https://hal.science/hal-00287307/file/calvignac2008.pdf; 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.