Camelus knoblochi genome reveals the complex evolutionary history of Old World camels
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Camelus knoblochi genome reveals the complex evolutionary history of Old World camels. / Yuan, Junxia; Hu, Jiaming; Liu, Wenhui; Chen, Shungang; Zhang, Fengli; Wang, Siren; Zhang, Zhen; Wang, Linying; Xiao, Bo; Li, Fuqiang; Hofreiter, Michael; Lai, Xulong; Westbury, Michael V.; Sheng, Guilian.
In: Current Biology, Vol. 34, No. 11, 2024, p. 2502-2508.e5.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Camelus knoblochi genome reveals the complex evolutionary history of Old World camels
AU - Yuan, Junxia
AU - Hu, Jiaming
AU - Liu, Wenhui
AU - Chen, Shungang
AU - Zhang, Fengli
AU - Wang, Siren
AU - Zhang, Zhen
AU - Wang, Linying
AU - Xiao, Bo
AU - Li, Fuqiang
AU - Hofreiter, Michael
AU - Lai, Xulong
AU - Westbury, Michael V.
AU - Sheng, Guilian
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Extant Old World camels (genus Camelus) contributed to the economic and cultural exchanges between the East and West for thousands of years.1 , 2 Although many remains have been unearthed,3 , 4 , 5 we know neither whether the prevalent hybridization observed between extant Camelus species2 , 6 , 7 also occurred between extinct lineages and the ancestors of extant Camelus species nor why some populations became extinct while others survived. To investigate these questions, we generated paleogenomic and stable isotope data from an extinct two-humped camel species, Camelus knoblochi. We find that in the mitochondrial phylogeny, all C. knoblochi form a paraphyletic group that nests within the diversity of modern, wild two-humped camels (Camelus ferus). In contrast, they are clearly distinguished from both wild and domesticated (Camelus bactrianus) two-humped camels on the nuclear level. Moreover, the divergence pattern of the three camel species approximates a trifurcation, because the most common topology is only slightly more frequent than the two other possible topologies. This mito-nuclear phylogenetic discordance likely arose due to interspecific gene flow between all three species, suggesting that interspecific hybridization is not exclusive to modern camels but a recurrent phenomenon throughout the evolutionary history of the genus Camelus. These results suggest that the genomic complexity of Old World camels’ evolutionary history is underestimated when considering data from only modern species. Finally, we find that C. knoblochi populations began declining prior to the last glacial maximum and, by integrating palaeoecological evidence and stable isotope data, suggest that this was likely due to failure to adapt to a changing environment.
AB - Extant Old World camels (genus Camelus) contributed to the economic and cultural exchanges between the East and West for thousands of years.1 , 2 Although many remains have been unearthed,3 , 4 , 5 we know neither whether the prevalent hybridization observed between extant Camelus species2 , 6 , 7 also occurred between extinct lineages and the ancestors of extant Camelus species nor why some populations became extinct while others survived. To investigate these questions, we generated paleogenomic and stable isotope data from an extinct two-humped camel species, Camelus knoblochi. We find that in the mitochondrial phylogeny, all C. knoblochi form a paraphyletic group that nests within the diversity of modern, wild two-humped camels (Camelus ferus). In contrast, they are clearly distinguished from both wild and domesticated (Camelus bactrianus) two-humped camels on the nuclear level. Moreover, the divergence pattern of the three camel species approximates a trifurcation, because the most common topology is only slightly more frequent than the two other possible topologies. This mito-nuclear phylogenetic discordance likely arose due to interspecific gene flow between all three species, suggesting that interspecific hybridization is not exclusive to modern camels but a recurrent phenomenon throughout the evolutionary history of the genus Camelus. These results suggest that the genomic complexity of Old World camels’ evolutionary history is underestimated when considering data from only modern species. Finally, we find that C. knoblochi populations began declining prior to the last glacial maximum and, by integrating palaeoecological evidence and stable isotope data, suggest that this was likely due to failure to adapt to a changing environment.
KW - ancient DNA
KW - Camelus knoblochi
KW - evolution
KW - extinction
KW - interspecific hybridization
KW - nucleotide diversity
KW - phylogenetic tree
KW - Pleistocene
KW - stable isotope
KW - two-humped camel
U2 - 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.050
DO - 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.050
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 38754423
AN - SCOPUS:85194330866
VL - 34
SP - 2502-2508.e5
JO - Current Biology
JF - Current Biology
SN - 0960-9822
IS - 11
ER -
ID: 397347707