@misc{SiskaJonesJeonetal.2017, author = {Siska, Veronika and Jones, Eppie Ruth and Jeon, Sungwon and Bhak, Youngjune and Kim, Hak-Min and Cho, Yun Sung and Kim, Hyunho and Lee, Kyusang and Veselovskaya, Elizaveta and Balueva, Tatiana and Gallego-Llorente, Marcos and Hofreiter, Michael and Bradley, Daniel G. and Eriksson, Anders and Pinhasi, Ron and Bhak, Jong and Manica, Andrea}, title = {Genome-wide data from two early Neolithic East Asian individuals dating to 7700 years ago}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {791}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-43997}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-439977}, pages = {11}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Ancient genomes have revolutionized our understanding of Holocene prehistory and, particularly, the Neolithic transition in western Eurasia. In contrast, East Asia has so far received little attention, despite representing a core region at which the Neolithic transition took place independently similar to 3 millennia after its onset in the Near East. We report genome-wide data from two hunter-gatherers from Devil's Gate, an early Neolithic cave site (dated to similar to 7.7 thousand years ago) located in East Asia, on the border between Russia and Korea. Both of these individuals are genetically most similar to geographically close modern populations from the Amur Basin, all speaking Tungusic languages, and, in particular, to the Ulchi. The similarity to nearby modern populations and the low levels of additional genetic material in the Ulchi imply a high level of genetic continuity in this region during the Holocene, a pattern that markedly contrasts with that reported for Europe.}, language = {en} } @misc{MohandesanSpellerPetersetal.2017, author = {Mohandesan, Elmira and Speller, Camilla F. and Peters, Joris and Uerpmann, Hans-Peter and Uerpmann, Margarethe and De Cupere, Bea and Hofreiter, Michael and Burger, Pamela A.}, title = {Combined hybridization capture and shotgun sequencing for ancient DNA analysis of extinct wild and domestic dromedary camel}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {789}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-43995}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-439955}, pages = {300 -- 313}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The performance of hybridization capture combined with next-generation sequencing (NGS) has seen limited investigation with samples from hot and arid regions until now. We applied hybridization capture and shotgun sequencing to recover DNA sequences from bone specimens of ancient-domestic dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) and its extinct ancestor, the wild dromedary from Jordan, Syria, Turkey and the Arabian Peninsula, respectively. Our results show that hybridization capture increased the percentage of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) recovery by an average 187-fold and in some cases yielded virtually complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes at multifold coverage in a single capture experiment. Furthermore, we tested the effect of hybridization temperature and time by using a touchdown approach on a limited number of samples. We observed no significant difference in the number of unique dromedary mtDNA reads retrieved with the standard capture compared to the touchdown method. In total, we obtained 14 partial mitochondrial genomes from ancient-domestic dromedaries with 17-95\% length coverage and 1.27-47.1-fold read depths for the covered regions. Using whole-genome shotgun sequencing, we successfully recovered endogenous dromedary nuclear DNA (nuDNA) from domestic and wild dromedary specimens with 1-1.06-fold read depths for covered regions. Our results highlight that despite recent methodological advances, obtaining ancient DNA (aDNA) from specimens recovered from hot, arid environments is still problematic. Hybridization protocols require specific optimization, and samples at the limit of DNA preservation need multiple replications of DNA extraction and hybridization capture as has been shown previously for Middle Pleistocene specimens.}, language = {en} } @misc{KnappLaluezaFoxHofreiter2015, author = {Knapp, Michael and Lalueza-Fox, Carles and Hofreiter, Michael}, title = {Re-inventing ancient human DNA}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {853}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-43177}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-431775}, pages = {14}, year = {2015}, abstract = {For a long time, the analysis of ancient human DNA represented one of the most controversial disciplines in an already controversial field of research. Scepticism in this field was only matched by the long-lasting controversy over the authenticity of ancient pathogen DNA. This ambiguous view on ancient human DNA had a dichotomous root. On the one hand, the interest in ancient human DNA is great because such studies touch on the history and evolution of our own species. On the other hand, because these studies are dealing with samples from our own species, results are easily compromised by contamination of the experiments with modern human DNA, which is ubiquitous in the environment. Consequently, some of the most disputed studies published - apart maybe from early reports on million year old dinosaur or amber DNA - reported DNA analyses from human subfossil remains. However, the development of so-called next- or second-generation sequencing (SGS) in 2005 and the technological advances associated with it have generated new confidence in the genetic study of ancient human remains. The ability to sequence shorter DNA fragments than with PCR amplification coupled to traditional Sanger sequencing, along with very high sequencing throughput have both reduced the risk of sequencing modern contamination and provided tools to evaluate the authenticity of DNA sequence data. The field is now rapidly developing, providing unprecedented insights into the evolution of our own species and past human population dynamics as well as the evolution and history of human pathogens and epidemics. Here, we review how recent technological improvements have rapidly transformed ancient human DNA research from a highly controversial subject to a central component of modern anthropological research. We also discuss potential future directions of ancient human DNA research.}, language = {en} } @misc{AlterMeyerPostetal.2015, author = {Alter, S. Elizabeth and Meyer, Matthias and Post, Klaas and Czechowski, Paul and Gravlund, Peter and Gaines, Cork and Rosenbaum, Howard C. and Kaschner, Kristin and Turvey, Samuel T. and van der Plicht, Johannes and Shapiro, Beth and Hofreiter, Michael}, title = {Climate impacts on transocean dispersal and habitat in gray whales from the Pleistocene to 2100}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {965}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-43892}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-438920}, pages = {1510 -- 1522}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Arctic animals face dramatic habitat alteration due to ongoing climate change. Understanding how such species have responded to past glacial cycles can help us forecast their response to today's changing climate. Gray whales are among those marine species likely to be strongly affected by Arctic climate change, but a thorough analysis of past climate impacts on this species has been complicated by lack of information about an extinct population in the Atlantic. While little is known about the history of Atlantic gray whales or their relationship to the extant Pacific population, the extirpation of the Atlantic population during historical times has been attributed to whaling. We used a combination of ancient and modern DNA, radiocarbon dating and predictive habitat modelling to better understand the distribution of gray whales during the Pleistocene and Holocene. Our results reveal that dispersal between the Pacific and Atlantic was climate dependent and occurred both during the Pleistocene prior to the last glacial period and the early Holocene immediately following the opening of the Bering Strait. Genetic diversity in the Atlantic declined over an extended interval that predates the period of intensive commercial whaling, indicating this decline may have been precipitated by Holocene climate or other ecological causes. These first genetic data for Atlantic gray whales, particularly when combined with predictive habitat models for the year 2100, suggest that two recent sightings of gray whales in the Atlantic may represent the beginning of the expansion of this species' habitat beyond its currently realized range.}, language = {en} } @misc{GallegoLlorenteSarahJonesetal.2016, author = {Gallego-Llorente, Marcos and Sarah, Connell and Jones, Eppie R. and Merrett, Deborah C. and Jeon, Y. and Eriksson, Anders and Siska, Veronika and Gamba, Cristina and Meiklejohn, Christopher and Beyer, Robert and Jeon, Sungwon and Cho, Yun Sung and Hofreiter, Michael and Bhak, Jong and Manica, Andrea and Pinhasi, Ron}, title = {The genetics of an early Neolithic pastoralist from the Zagros, Iran}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {952}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-43935}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-439355}, pages = {9}, year = {2016}, abstract = {The agricultural transition profoundly changed human societies. We sequenced and analysed the first genome (1.39x) of an early Neolithic woman from Ganj Dareh, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, a site with early evidence for an economy based on goat herding, ca. 10,000 BP. We show that Western Iran was inhabited by a population genetically most similar to hunter-gatherers from the Caucasus, but distinct from the Neolithic Anatolian people who later brought food production into Europe. The inhabitants of Ganj Dareh made little direct genetic contribution to modern European populations, suggesting those of the Central Zagros were somewhat isolated from other populations of the Fertile Crescent. Runs of homozygosity are of a similar length to those from Neolithic farmers, and shorter than those of Caucasus and Western Hunter-Gatherers, suggesting that the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh did not undergo the large population bottleneck suffered by their northern neighbours. While some degree of cultural diffusion between Anatolia, Western Iran and other neighbouring regions is possible, the genetic dissimilarity between early Anatolian farmers and the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh supports a model in which Neolithic societies in these areas were distinct.}, language = {en} } @misc{GonzalezFortesJonesLightfootetal.2017, author = {Gonz{\´a}lez-Fortes, Gloria M. and Jones, Eppie R. and Lightfoot, Emma and Bonsall, Clive and Lazar, Catalin and Grandal-d'Anglade, Aurora and Garralda, Mar{\´i}a Dolores and Drak, Labib and Siska, Veronika and Simalcsik, Angela and Boroneant, Adina and Roman{\´i}, Juan Ram{\´o}n Vidal and Vaqueiro Rodr{\´i}guez, Marcos and Arias, Pablo and Pinhasi, Ron and Manica, Andrea and Hofreiter, Michael}, title = {Paleogenomic evidence for multi-generational mixing between Neolithic Farmers and Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers in the lower Danube Basin}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {794}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-44011}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-440115}, pages = {1801 -- 1820}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The transition from hunting and gathering to farming involved profound cultural and technological changes. In Western and Central Europe, these changes occurred rapidly and synchronously after the arrival of early farmers of Anatolian origin [1-3], who largely replaced the local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers [1, 4-6]. Further east, in the Baltic region, the transition was gradual, with little or no genetic input from incoming farmers [7]. Here we use ancient DNA to investigate the relationship between hunter-gatherers and farmers in the Lower Danube basin, a geographically intermediate area that is characterized by a rapid Neolithic transition but also by the presence of archaeological evidence that points to cultural exchange, and thus possible admixture, between hunter-gatherers and farmers. We recovered four human paleogenomes (1.13 to 4.13 coverage) from Romania spanning a time transect between 8.8 thousand years ago (kya) and 5.4 kya and supplemented them with two Mesolithic genomes (1.73- and 5.33) from Spain to provide further context on the genetic background of Mesolithic Europe. Our results show major Western hunter-gatherer (WHG) ancestry in a Romanian Eneolithic sample with a minor, but sizeable, contribution from Anatolian farmers, suggesting multiple admixture events between hunter-gatherers and farmers. Dietary stableisotope analysis of this sample suggests a mixed terrestrial/ aquatic diet. Our results provide support for complex interactions among hunter-gatherers and farmers in the Danube basin, demonstrating that in some regions, demic and cultural diffusion were not mutually exclusive, but merely the ends of a continuum for the process of Neolithization.}, language = {en} } @misc{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 Sch{\"u}ler, 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 = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {790}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-44013}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-440139}, 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} } @misc{RainfordHofreiterMayhew2016, author = {Rainford, James L. and Hofreiter, Michael and Mayhew, Peter J.}, title = {Phylogenetic analyses suggest that diversification and body size evolution are independent in insects}, series = {BMC evolutionary biology}, journal = {BMC evolutionary biology}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407328}, pages = {17}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background: Skewed body size distributions and the high relative richness of small-bodied taxa are a fundamental property of a wide range of animal clades. The evolutionary processes responsible for generating these distributions are well described in vertebrate model systems but have yet to be explored in detail for other major terrestrial clades. In this study, we explore the macro-evolutionary patterns of body size variation across families of Hexapoda (insects and their close relatives), using recent advances in phylogenetic understanding, with an aim to investigate the link between size and diversity within this ancient and highly diverse lineage. Results: The maximum, minimum and mean-log body lengths of hexapod families are all approximately log-normally distributed, consistent with previous studies at lower taxonomic levels, and contrasting with skewed distributions typical of vertebrate groups. After taking phylogeny and within-tip variation into account, we find no evidence for a negative relationship between diversification rate and body size, suggesting decoupling of the forces controlling these two traits. Likelihood-based modeling of the log-mean body size identifies distinct processes operating within Holometabola and Diptera compared with other hexapod groups, consistent with accelerating rates of size evolution within these clades, while as a whole, hexapod body size evolution is found to be dominated by neutral processes including significant phylogenetic conservatism. Conclusions: Based on our findings we suggest that the use of models derived from well-studied but atypical clades, such as vertebrates may lead to misleading conclusions when applied to other major terrestrial lineages. Our results indicate that within hexapods, and within the limits of current systematic and phylogenetic knowledge, insect diversification is generally unfettered by size-biased macro-evolutionary processes, and that these processes over large timescales tend to converge on apparently neutral evolutionary processes. We also identify limitations on available data within the clade and modeling approaches for the resolution of trees of higher taxa, the resolution of which may collectively enhance our understanding of this key component of terrestrial ecosystems.}, language = {en} } @misc{PinhasiFernandesSiraketal.2015, author = {Pinhasi, Ron and Fernandes, Daniel and Sirak, Kendra and Novak, Mario and Connell, Sarah and Alpaslan-Roodenberg, Song{\"u}l and Gerritsen, Fokke and Moiseyev, Vyacheslav and Gromov, Andrey and Raczky, P{\´a}l and Anders, Alexandra and Pietrusewsky, Michael and Rollefson, Gary and Jovanovic, Marija and Trinhhoang, Hiep and Bar-Oz, Guy and Oxenham, Marc and Matsumura, Hirofumi and Hofreiter, Michael}, title = {Optimal ancient DNA yields from the inner ear part of the human petrous bone}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschafliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschafliche Reihe}, number = {515}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-40955}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-409557}, pages = {13}, year = {2015}, abstract = {The invention and development of next or second generation sequencing methods has resulted in a dramatic transformation of ancient DNA research and allowed shotgun sequencing of entire genomes from fossil specimens. However, although there are exceptions, most fossil specimens contain only low (similar to 1\% or less) percentages of endogenous DNA. The only skeletal element for which a systematically higher endogenous DNA content compared to other skeletal elements has been shown is the petrous part of the temporal bone. In this study we investigate whether (a) different parts of the petrous bone of archaeological human specimens give different percentages of endogenous DNA yields, (b) there are significant differences in average DNA read lengths, damage patterns and total DNA concentration, and (c) it is possible to obtain endogenous ancient DNA from petrous bones from hot environments. We carried out intra-petrous comparisons for ten petrous bones from specimens from Holocene archaeological contexts across Eurasia dated between 10,0001,800 calibrated years before present (cal. BP). We obtained shotgun DNA sequences from three distinct areas within the petrous: a spongy part of trabecular bone (part A), the dense part of cortical bone encircling the osseous inner ear, or otic capsule (part B), and the dense part within the otic capsule (part C). Our results confirm that dense bone parts of the petrous bone can provide high endogenous aDNA yields and indicate that endogenous DNA fractions for part C can exceed those obtained for part B by up to 65-fold and those from part A by up to 177-fold, while total endogenous DNA concentrations are up to 126-fold and 109-fold higher for these comparisons. Our results also show that while endogenous yields from part C were lower than 1\% for samples from hot (both arid and humid) parts, the DNA damage patterns indicate that at least some of the reads originate from ancient DNA molecules, potentially enabling ancient DNA analyses of samples from hot regions that are otherwise not amenable to ancient DNA analyses.}, language = {en} } @misc{PaijmansBarlowFoersteretal.2019, author = {Paijmans, Johanna L. A. and Barlow, Axel and F{\"o}rster, Daniel W. and Henneberger, Kirstin and Meyer, Matthias and Nickel, Birgit and Nagel, Doris and Wors{\o}e Havm{\o}ller, Rasmus and Baryshnikov, Gennady F. and Joger, Ulrich and Rosendahl, Wilfried and Hofreiter, Michael}, title = {Historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) and its extinct Eurasian populations}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {505}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-42255}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-422555}, pages = {12}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Background Resolving the historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) is a complex issue, because patterns inferred from fossils and from molecular data lack congruence. Fossil evidence supports an African origin, and suggests that leopards were already present in Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene. Analysis of DNA sequences however, suggests a more recent, Middle Pleistocene shared ancestry of Asian and African leopards. These contrasting patterns led researchers to propose a two-stage hypothesis of leopard dispersal out of Africa: an initial Early Pleistocene colonisation of Asia and a subsequent replacement by a second colonisation wave during the Middle Pleistocene. The status of Late Pleistocene European leopards within this scenario is unclear: were these populations remnants of the first dispersal, or do the last surviving European leopards share more recent ancestry with their African counterparts? Results In this study, we generate and analyse mitogenome sequences from historical samples that span the entire modern leopard distribution, as well as from Late Pleistocene remains. We find a deep bifurcation between African and Eurasian mitochondrial lineages (~ 710 Ka), with the European ancient samples as sister to all Asian lineages (~ 483 Ka). The modern and historical mainland Asian lineages share a relatively recent common ancestor (~ 122 Ka), and we find one Javan sample nested within these. Conclusions The phylogenetic placement of the ancient European leopard as sister group to Asian leopards suggests that these populations originate from the same out-of-Africa dispersal which founded the Asian lineages. The coalescence time found for the mitochondrial lineages aligns well with the earliest undisputed fossils in Eurasia, and thus encourages a re-evaluation of the identification of the much older putative leopard fossils from the region. The relatively recent ancestry of all mainland Asian leopard lineages suggests that these populations underwent a severe population bottleneck during the Pleistocene. Finally, although only based on a single sample, the unexpected phylogenetic placement of the Javan leopard could be interpreted as evidence for exchange of mitochondrial lineages between Java and mainland Asia, calling for further investigation into the evolutionary history of this subspecies.}, language = {en} }