scholarly journals Ancient DNA from a 2,700-year-old goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) confirms gazelle hunting in Iron Age Central Asia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Elias Rodrigues Soares ◽  
Nikolaus Boroffka ◽  
Oskar Schröder ◽  
Leonid Sverchkov ◽  
Norbert Benecke ◽  
...  

Central Asia has been an important region connecting the different parts of Eurasia throughout history and prehistory, with large states developing in this region during the Iron Age. Archaeogenomics is a powerful addition to the zooarchaeological toolkit for understanding the relation of these societies to animals. Here, we present the genetic identification of a goitered gazelle specimen (Gazella subgutturosa) at the site Gazimulla-Tepa, in modern-day Uzbekistan, confirming hunting of the species in the region during the Iron Age. The sample was directly radiocarbon dated to 2724-2439 calBP. A phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial genome places the individual into the modern variation of G. subgutturosa. Our data does represent both the first ancient DNA and the first nuclear DNA sequences of this species. The lack of genomic resources available for this gazelle and related species prevented us from performing a more in-depth analysis of the nuclear sequences generated. Therefore, we are making our sequence data available to the research community to facilitate other research of this nowadays threatened species which has been subject to human hunting for several millennia across its entire range on the Asian continent.

2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1618) ◽  
pp. 1597-1602 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.Z Xie ◽  
C.X Li ◽  
Y.Q Cui ◽  
Q.C Zhang ◽  
Y.Q Fu ◽  
...  

Various studies on ancient DNA have attempted to reconstruct population movement in Asia, with much interest focused on determining the arrival of European lineages in ancient East Asia. Here, we discuss our analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of human remains excavated from the Yu Hong tomb in Taiyuan, China, dated 1400 years ago. The burial style of this tomb is characteristic of Central Asia at that time. Our analysis shows that Yu Hong belonged to the haplogroup U5, one of the oldest western Eurasian-specific haplogroups, while his wife can be classified as haplogroup G, the type prevalent in East Asia. Our findings show that this man with European lineage arrived in Taiyuan approximately 1400 years ago, and most probably married a local woman. Haplogroup U5 was the first west Eurasian-specific lineage to be found in the central part of ancient China, and Taiyuan may be the easternmost location of the discovered remains of European lineage in ancient China.


PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5783 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Capa ◽  
Torkild Bakken ◽  
Karin Meißner ◽  
Arne Nygren

BackgroundLong-bodied sphaerodorids (Annelida, Sphaerodoridae) is the common name for members of the three closely and morphologically homogenous currently accepted genera of benthic marine bristle worms:Ephesiella,EphesiopsisandSphaerodorum. Members of this group share the presence of two dorsal and longitudinal rows of macrotubercles with terminal papillae, and two longitudinal rows of microtubercles, features that are unique among sphaerodorids. Genera are distinguished by the chaetae morphology. Members ofEphesiellaare characterised by having compound chaetae (except, sometimes, simple chaetae in the first chaetigers),Sphaerodorumbear only simple chaetae, andEphesiopsishave both compound and simple chaetae in all parapodia.MethodsMitochondrial (partial COI and 16S rDNA) and nuclear (partial 18S rDNA and 28S rDNA) sequence data of long-bodied sphaerodorids with compound and simple chaetae, and an outgroup of additional seven sphaerodorid species were analysed separately and in combination using Bayesian inference (BA), and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods. Long-bodied sphaerodorids from around the world (including type specimens) were examined under a range of optical equipment in order to evaluate putative generic and specific diagnostic features, in addition to intraspecific variability.ResultsPhylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences of specimens identified asEphesiellaandSphaerodorum,based on chaeta morphology, were performed.SphaerodorumandEphesiellawere recovered as paraphyletic and nested within each other. Revision of current nominal species diagnostic features are performed and discussed.DiscussionResults contradict current generic definitions. Recovery of paraphyletic compound and simple chaetae clades urge the synonymization of these two genera of long-bodied sphaerodorids. Morphological data also suggest the synonymization ofEphesiopsis.


The Auk ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 1114-1120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel  Marini ◽  
Shannon J. Hackett

Abstract A new intergeneric hybrid manakin is characterized using morphological characters and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Many morphological traits suggest the bird is intermediate between Ilicura militaris and Chiroxiphia caudata. Sequences of the maternally inherited mitochondrial ND2 gene demonstrate the female parent to be Chiroxiphia caudata, and the nuclear beta-fibrinogen intron 5 sequences can not eliminate Chiroxiphia and Ilicura as parents. Therefore, DNA sequence data lead to the conclusion that Ilicura is the male parent of this unusual bird. This study is important because it highlights the significance of using multiple character systems in diagnosing unusual bird specimens.


Botany ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (9) ◽  
pp. 1039-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Downie ◽  
Deborah S. Katz-Downie ◽  
Feng-Jie Sun ◽  
Chang-Shook Lee

Intergeneric phylogenetic relationships within Apiaceae tribe Oenantheae were investigated using sequence data from the chloroplast DNA psbI–5′trnK(UUU) and nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer regions. One hundred and thirty-one accessions were examined, representing all 17 genera of the tribe and approximately one-half of its species. The cpDNA region includes four intergenic spacers and the rps16 intron and these noncoding loci were analyzed separately to assess their relative utility for resolving relationships. Separate maximum parsimony analyses of the entire psbI–5′trnK(UUU) and ITS regions, each with and without scored indels, yielded concordant trees. Phylogenies derived from maximum parsimony, Bayesian, or maximum likelihood analyses of combined chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences for 82 accessions were highly resolved, well supported, and consistent. Among the five noncoding loci examined, the trnQ(UUG)–5′rps16 and 3′rps16–5′trnK(UUU) intergenic spacers are the most variable, with the latter contributing the greatest total number of parsimony informative characters relative to its size. The North American genera Atrema , Cynosciadium , Daucosma , Limnosciadium , Neogoezia , Oxypolis , Ptilimnium , and Trepocarpus ally with the western hemispheric and Australasian genus Lilaeopsis in a strongly supported North American Endemics clade that is a sister group to a clade composed primarily of Old World taxa ( Berula sensu lato, Cryptotaenia , Helosciadium , and Sium ). Oxypolis and Ptilimnium are not monophyletic, with the rachis-leaved members of each comprising a clade separate from their compound-leaved congeners. Dispersal-vicariance analysis suggests that the ancestors of the North American Endemics clade probably originated in Canada and the USA or in a broader ancestral area including Mexico and South America.


2015 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 394-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan F. Díaz-Nieto ◽  
Sharon A. Jansa ◽  
Robert S. Voss

Abstract Morphological character data are inadequate to resolve the evolutionary relationships of the didelphid genus Chacodelphys , which previous phylogenetic analyses have alternatively suggested might be the sister taxon of Lestodelphys and Thylamys (tribe Thylamyini) or of Monodelphis (tribe Marmosini) in the subfamily Didelphinae. Because fresh material of Chacodelphys is unavailable, we extracted DNA from microscopic fragments of soft tissue adhering to the 95-year-old holotype skull of C. formosa. Phylogenetic analyses of the resulting sequence data convincingly resolve Chacodelphys as the sister taxon of Cryptonanus , a genus with which it had not previously been thought to be closely related. This novel clade ( Chacodelphys + Cryptonanus ) belongs to an unnamed thylamyine lineage with Gracilinanus and Lestodelphys + Thylamys , but relationships among these taxa remain to be convincingly resolved. Los análisis basados en caracteres morfológicos han sido inadecuados para resolver las relaciones evolutivas del género marsupial didélfido Chacodelphys . Previos análisis filogenéticos han sugerido como hipótesis alternativas que Chacodelphys sea el grupo hermano de Lestodelphys y Thylamys (tribu Thylamyini) o de Monodelphis (tribu Marmosini), todos estos géneros pertenecientes a la subfamilia Didelphinae. Debido a la ausencia de material fresco de Chacodelphys , extrajimos ADN de fragmentos microscópicos de tejido adherido al cráneo de 95 años del holotipo de C. formosa . Análisis filogenéticos de las secuencias obtenidas resuelven convincentemente la posición filogenética de Chacodelphys como el taxón hermano de Cryptonanus , un género con el cual nunca antes se había pensado que estuviera cercanamente relacionado. Aunque reconocemos a este nuevo clado ( Chacodelphys + Cryptonanus ) junto con Gracilinanus y Lestodelphys + Thylamys pertenecientes a un linaje sin nombre, las relaciones entre estas taxa siguen sin estar convincentemente resueltas.


2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.C. Marshall ◽  
K.A. Crandall ◽  
D.J. Harris

AbstractSequences of the nuclear gene C-mos from 16 new species have been combined with previously published data to produce an analysis of squamate relationships using 56 taxa, considerably more than in previous analyses. Support for many nodes is greatly increased, thus producing a more robust assessment of relationships. Sampling was concentrated within the families Iguanidae and Lacertidae, both of which have poorly supported phylogenies based on mtDNA sequence data. Our analysis supports a robust estimate of relationships within the Iguanidae. Within the Lacertidae relationships are only partially well resolved, and this provides independent evidence for rapid speciation within this family.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesare de Filippo ◽  
Matthias Meyer ◽  
Kay Prüfer

AbstractThe study of ancient DNA is hampered by degradation, resulting in short DNA fragments. Advances in laboratory methods have made it possible to retrieve short DNA fragments, thereby improving access to DNA preserved in highly degraded, ancient material. However, such material contains large amounts of microbial contamination in addition to DNA fragments from the ancient organism. The resulting mixture of sequences constitute a challenge for computational analysis, since microbial sequences are hard to distinguish from the ancient sequences of interest, especially when they are short. Here, we develop a method to quantify spurious alignments based on the presence or absence of rare variants. We find that spurious alignments are enriched for mismatches and insertion/deletion differences and lack substitution patterns typical of ancient DNA. The impact of spurious alignments can be reduced by filtering on these features and by imposing a sample-specific minimum length cutoff. We apply this approach to sequences from the ~430,000 year-old Sima de los Huesos hominin remains, which contain particularly short DNA fragments, and increase the amount of usable sequence data by 17-150%. This allows us to place a third specimen from the site on the Neandertal lineage. Our method maximizes the sequence data amenable to genetic analysis from highly degraded ancient material and avoids pitfalls that are associated with the analysis of ultra-short DNA sequences.


2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Page ◽  
Mark I. Stevens ◽  
Mark Adams ◽  
Ralph Foster ◽  
Alejandro Velasco-Castrillón ◽  
...  

Australia was once thought to be a biodiversity desert when considering the subterranean world; however, recent work has revealed a fascinating collection of cave creatures, many with surprising biogeographic histories. This has especially been so in the karstic regions of north-western Australia (Cape Range peninsula, Barrow Island, Pilbara), which is home not only to a diverse collection of subterranean invertebrates, but also to the continent’s only known underworld-adapted vertebrates, which includes the cave fish in the genus Milyeringa. These cave gudgeons have recently been in a state of taxonomic flux, with species being both split and lumped, but this was done with limited data (incomplete geographic sampling and no nuclear DNA sequence data). Therefore, we have revisited the systematic status of Milyeringa in a total-evidence molecular approach by integrating all existing data (mitochondrial, allozymes) with new DNA sequences from nuclear and mitochondrial loci and new multilocus allozyme data. Our conclusion, that there are two species, matches the most recent taxonomic treatment, with Milyeringa veritas present on both the eastern and western sides of the Cape Range peninsula, and Milyeringa justitia on Barrow Island. This has implications for future research in the linked fields of biogeography and conservation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
MUHAMMAD NURISMADEE ABDUL-MANAN ◽  
MOHD-RIDWAN ABD RAHMAN ◽  
NOR AIFAT RAHMAN ◽  
NUR AZIMAH OSMAN ◽  
MUHAMMAD ABDUL-LATIFF ABU BAKAR ◽  
...  

Abstract. Abdul-Manan MN, Mohd-Ridwan AR, Aifat NR, Osman NA, Abdul-Latiff MA, Dharmalingam S, Md-Zain BM. 2020. Short Communication: Effectiveness of nuclear gene in species and subspecies determination of captive orangutans. Biodiversitas 21: 3665-3669. Genetic identification of captive orangutans is of paramount importance in providing a correct identity that is essential for captive management. Thus, the utility of nuclear DNA sequences was tested in this study to identify the genetic identity of captive orangutans at Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island. Out of 24 DNA samples that were successfully extracted, only 10 orangutan samples were successfully sequenced for the von Willebrand factor (vWF) gene. From the results, this gene was able to separate the genus Pongo at the species level. Distance and character analyses indicated that a clear separation between P. pygmaeus and P. abelii at the species level. However, the degree of separation at species level was indicated in tree topology with moderate bootstrap values. At the subspecies level of P. pygmaeus, this gene was unable to show a clear separation between three Bornean subspecies. All the subspecies were formed clade together with each other. The vMF gene is a good nuclear gene for the study of phylogenetic relationships of orangutans in captivity at the species level, but the genetic identification at subspecies level in the genus level remains unclear. We suggest that future studies should involve multiple independent nuclear markers to increase the probability of getting reliable results.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Jun Tong ◽  
David A. Duchêne ◽  
Sebastián Duchêne ◽  
Jemma L. Geoghegan ◽  
Simon Y.W. Ho

AbstractThe estimation of evolutionary rates from ancient DNA sequences can be negatively affected by among-lineage rate variation and non-random sampling. Using a simulation study, we compared the performance of three phylogenetic methods for inferring evolutionary rates from time-structured data sets: root-to-tip regression, least-squares dating, and Bayesian inference. Our results show that these methods produce reliable estimates when the substitution rate is high, rate variation is low, and samples of similar ages are not phylogenetically clustered. The interaction of these factors is particularly important for Bayesian estimation of evolutionary rates. We also inferred rates for time-structured mitogenomic data sets from six vertebrate species. Root-to-tip regression estimated a different rate from least-squares dating and Bayesian inference for mitogenomes from the horse, which has high levels of among-lineage rate variation. We recommend using multiple methods of inference and testing data for temporal signal, among-lineage rate variation, and phylo-temporal clustering.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document