Blue Turns to Gray: Paleogenomic Insights into the Evolutionary History and Extinction of the Blue Antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus).
Mol Biol Evol
; 39(12)2022 12 05.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36322483
ABSTRACT
The blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) is the only large African mammal species to have become extinct in historical times, yet no nuclear genomic information is available for this species. A recent study showed that many alleged blue antelope museum specimens are either roan (Hippotragus equinus) or sable (Hippotragus niger) antelopes, further reducing the possibilities for obtaining genomic information for this extinct species. While the blue antelope has a rich fossil record from South Africa, climatic conditions in the region are generally unfavorable to the preservation of ancient DNA. Nevertheless, we recovered two blue antelope draft genomes, one at 3.4× mean coverage from a historical specimen (â¼200 years old) and one at 2.1× mean coverage from a fossil specimen dating to 9,800-9,300 cal years BP, making it currently the oldest paleogenome from Africa. Phylogenomic analyses show that blue and sable antelope are sister species, confirming previous mitogenomic results, and demonstrate ancient gene flow from roan into blue antelope. We show that blue antelope genomic diversity was much lower than in roan and sable antelope, indicative of a low population size since at least the early Holocene. This supports observations from the fossil record documenting major decreases in the abundance of blue antelope after the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Finally, the persistence of this species throughout the Holocene despite low population size suggests that colonial-era human impact was likely the decisive factor in the blue antelope's extinction.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Antílopes
/
Mustelidae
Limite:
Animals
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mol Biol Evol
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Alemanha