@phdthesis{Baleka2019, author = {Baleka, Sina Isabelle}, title = {Palaeogenetic analyses of extinct Elephantidae from temperate and subtropical climates}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xiii, 114}, year = {2019}, language = {en} } @article{MeyerPalkopoulouBalekaetal.2017, author = {Meyer, Matthias and Palkopoulou, Eleftheria and Baleka, Sina Isabelle and Stiller, Mathias and Penkman, Kirsty E. H. and Alt, Kurt W. and Ishida, Yasuko and Mania, Dietrich and Mallick, Swapan and Meijer, Tom and Meller, Harald and Nagel, Sarah and Nickel, Birgit and Ostritz, Sven and Rohland, Nadin and Schauer, Karol and Schueler, Tim and Roca, Alfred L. and Reich, David and Shapiro, Beth and Hofreiter, Michael}, title = {Palaeogenomes of Eurasian straight-tusked elephants challenge the current view of elephant evolution}, series = {eLife}, volume = {6}, journal = {eLife}, publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {2050-084X}, doi = {10.7554/eLife.25413}, pages = {14}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The straight-tusked elephants Palaeoloxodon spp. were widespread across Eurasia during the Pleistocene. Phylogenetic reconstructions using morphological traits have grouped them with Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), and many paleontologists place Palaeoloxodon within Elephas. Here, we report the recovery of full mitochondrial genomes from four and partial nuclear genomes from two P. antiquus fossils. These fossils were collected at two sites in Germany, Neumark-Nord and Weimar-Ehringsdorf, and likely date to interglacial periods similar to 120 and similar to 244 thousand years ago, respectively. Unexpectedly, nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analyses suggest that P. antiquus was a close relative of extant African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis). Species previously referred to Palaeoloxodon are thus most parsimoniously explained as having diverged from the lineage of Loxodonta, indicating that Loxodonta has not been constrained to Africa. Our results demonstrate that the current picture of elephant evolution is in need of substantial revision.}, language = {en} } @article{PalkopoulouLipsonMallicketal.2018, author = {Palkopoulou, Eleftheria and Lipson, Mark and Mallick, Swapan and Nielsen, Svend and Rohland, Nadin and Baleka, Sina Isabelle and Karpinski, Emil and Ivancevici, Atma M. and Thu-Hien To, and Kortschak, Daniel and Raison, Joy M. and Qu, Zhipeng and Chin, Tat-Jun and Alt, Kurt W. and Claesson, Stefan and Dalen, Love and MacPhee, Ross D. E. and Meller, Harald and Rocar, Alfred L. and Ryder, Oliver A. and Heiman, David and Young, Sarah and Breen, Matthew and Williams, Christina and Aken, Bronwen L. and Ruffier, Magali and Karlsson, Elinor and Johnson, Jeremy and Di Palma, Federica and Alfoldi, Jessica and Adelsoni, David L. and Mailund, Thomas and Munch, Kasper and Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin and Hofreiter, Michael and Poinar, Hendrik and Reich, David}, title = {A comprehensive genomic history of extinct and living elephants}, series = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, volume = {115}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {11}, publisher = {National Acad. of Sciences}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0027-8424}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1720554115}, pages = {E2566 -- E2574}, year = {2018}, language = {en} } @article{WestburyBalekaBarlowetal.2017, author = {Westbury, Michael V. and Baleka, Sina Isabelle and Barlow, Axel and Hartmann, Stefanie and Paijmans, Johanna L. A. and Kramarz, Alejandro and Forasiepi, Analia M. and Bond, Mariano and Gelfo, Javier N. and Reguero, Marcelo A. and Lopez-Mendoza, Patricio and Taglioretti, Matias and Scaglia, Fernando and Rinderknecht, Andres and Jones, Washington and Mena, Francisco and Billet, Guillaume and de Muizon, Christian and Luis Aguilar, Jose and MacPhee, Ross D. E. and Hofreiter, Michael}, title = {A mitogenomic timetree for Darwin's enigmatic South American mammal Macrauchenia patachonica}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {8}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Nature Publ. Group}, address = {London}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms15951}, pages = {8}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The unusual mix of morphological traits displayed by extinct South American native ungulates (SANUs) confounded both Charles Darwin, who first discovered them, and Richard Owen, who tried to resolve their relationships. Here we report an almost complete mitochondrial genome for the litoptern Macrauchenia. Our dated phylogenetic tree places Macrauchenia as sister to Perissodactyla, but close to the radiation of major lineages within Laurasiatheria. This position is consistent with a divergence estimate of B66Ma (95\% credibility interval, 56.64-77.83 Ma) obtained for the split between Macrauchenia and other Panperissodactyla. Combined with their morphological distinctiveness, this evidence supports the positioning of Litopterna (possibly in company with other SANU groups) as a separate order within Laurasiatheria. We also show that, when using strict criteria, extinct taxa marked by deep divergence times and a lack of close living relatives may still be amenable to palaeogenomic analysis through iterative mapping against more distant relatives.}, language = {en} }