Tropical ancient DNA reveals relationships of the extinct Bahamian giant tortoise Chelonoidis alburyorum
Autor: | Nancy A. Albury, Alexander K. Hastings, Uwe Fritz, Richard Franz, David W. Steadman, Axel Barlow, Johanna L. A. Paijmans, Melita Vamberger, Michael Hofreiter, Christian Kehlmaier |
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Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2017 |
Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Tortoise Biogeography Population Biology Extinction Biological DNA Mitochondrial General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology 03 medical and health sciences ddc:590 ddc:570 Animals Humans 14. Life underwater DNA Ancient education Molecular clock Atlantic Ocean Institut für Biochemie und Biologie Phylogeny General Environmental Science Islands education.field_of_study Tropical Climate General Immunology and Microbiology Extinct in the wild Ecology General Medicine 15. Life on land South America biology.organism_classification Turtles 030104 developmental biology Ancient DNA Chelonoidis Caribbean Region Palaeobiology Africa Genome Mitochondrial Biological dispersal Ecuador General Agricultural and Biological Sciences |
ISSN: | 0962-8452 |
Popis: | Ancient DNA of extinct species from the Pleistocene and Holocene has provided valuable evolutionary insights. However, these are largely restricted to mammals and high latitudes because DNA preservation in warm climates is typically poor. In the tropics and subtropics, non-avian reptiles constitute a significant part of the fauna and little is known about the genetics of the many extinct reptiles from tropical islands. We have reconstructed the near-complete mitochondrial genome of an extinct giant tortoise from the Bahamas ( Chelonoidis alburyorum ) using an approximately 1 000-year-old humerus from a water-filled sinkhole (blue hole) on Great Abaco Island. Phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses place this extinct species as closely related to Galápagos ( C. niger complex) and Chaco tortoises ( C. chilensis ), and provide evidence for repeated overseas dispersal in this tortoise group. The ancestors of extant Chelonoidis species arrived in South America from Africa only after the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and dispersed from there to the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. Our results also suggest that the anoxic, thermally buffered environment of blue holes may enhance DNA preservation, and thus are opening a window for better understanding evolution and population history of extinct tropical species, which would likely still exist without human impact. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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