TY  - JOUR
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Kolbe, Ben
A1  - Fernandes, Daniel
A1  - Meleg, Ioana N.
A1  - Garcia-Vazquez, Ana
A1  - Pinto-Llona, Ana C.
A1  - Constantin, Silviu
A1  - de Torres, Trino J.
A1  - Ortiz, Jose E.
A1  - Frischauf, Christine
A1  - Rabeder, Gernot
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
A1  - Barlow, Axel
T1  - Ancient DNA reveals differences in behaviour and sociality between brown bears and extinct cave bears
JF  - Molecular ecology
N2  - Ancient DNA studies have revolutionized the study of extinct species and populations, providing insights on phylogeny, phylogeography, admixture and demographic history. However, inferences on behaviour and sociality have been far less frequent. Here, we investigate the complete mitochondrial genomes of extinct Late Pleistocene cave bears and middle Holocene brown bears that each inhabited multiple geographically proximate caves in northern Spain. In cave bears, we find that, although most caves were occupied simultaneously, each cave almost exclusively contains a unique lineage of closely related haplotypes. This remarkable pattern suggests extreme fidelity to their birth site in cave bears, best described as homing behaviour, and that cave bears formed stable maternal social groups at least for hibernation. In contrast, brown bears do not show any strong association of mitochondrial lineage and cave, suggesting that these two closely related species differed in aspects of their behaviour and sociality. This difference is likely to have contributed to cave bear extinction, which occurred at a time in which competition for caves between bears and humans was likely intense and the ability to rapidly colonize new hibernation sites would have been crucial for the survival of a species so dependent on caves for hibernation as cave bears. Our study demonstrates the potential of ancient DNA to uncover patterns of behaviour and sociality in ancient species and populations, even those that went extinct many tens of thousands of years ago.
KW  - ancient DNA
KW  - extinction
KW  - homing
KW  - sociality
KW  - Ursus arctos
KW  - Ursus spelaeus
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13800
SN  - 0962-1083
SN  - 1365-294X
VL  - 25
SP  - 4907
EP  - 4918
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Gamba, Cristina
A1  - Jones, Eppie R.
A1  - Teasdale, Matthew D.
A1  - McLaughlin, Russell L.
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Mattiangeli, Valeria
A1  - Domboróczki, László
A1  - Kővári, Ivett
A1  - Pap, Ildikó
A1  - Anders, Alexandra
A1  - Whittle, Alasdair
A1  - Dani, János
A1  - Raczky, Pál
A1  - Higham, Thomas F. G.
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
A1  - Bradley, Daniel G.
A1  - Pinhasi, Ron
T1  - Genome flux and stasis in a five millennium transect of European prehistory
T2  - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe
N2  - The Great Hungarian Plain was a crossroads of cultural transformations that have shaped European prehistory. Here we analyse a 5,000-year transect of human genomes, sampled from petrous bones giving consistently excellent endogenous DNA yields, from 13 Hungarian Neolithic, Copper, Bronze and Iron Age burials including two to high (similar to 22x) and seven to similar to 1x coverage, to investigate the impact of these on Europe's genetic landscape. These data suggest genomic shifts with the advent of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, with interleaved periods of genome stability. The earliest Neolithic context genome shows a European hunter-gatherer genetic signature and a restricted ancestral population size, suggesting direct contact between cultures after the arrival of the first farmers into Europe. The latest, Iron Age, sample reveals an eastern genomic influence concordant with introduced Steppe burial rites. We observe transition towards lighter pigmentation and surprisingly, no Neolithic presence of lactase persistence.
T3  - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1332 
KW  - ancient DNA
KW  - lactase-persistence
KW  - positive selection
KW  - patterns
KW  - sequence
KW  - farmers
KW  - pigmentation
KW  - homozygosity
KW  - ancestry
KW  - skin
Y1  - 2014
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-437999
SN  - 1866-8372
VL  - 5
IS  - 1332
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gamba, Cristina
A1  - Jones, Eppie R.
A1  - Teasdale, Matthew D.
A1  - McLaughlin, Russell L.
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Mattiangeli, Valeria
A1  - Domboroczki, Laszlo
A1  - Kovari, Ivett
A1  - Pap, Ildiko
A1  - Anders, Alexandra
A1  - Whittle, Alasdair
A1  - Dani, Janos
A1  - Raczky, Pal
A1  - Higham, Thomas F. G.
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
A1  - Bradley, Daniel G.
A1  - Pinhasi, Ron
T1  - Genome flux and stasis in a five millennium transect of European prehistory
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - The Great Hungarian Plain was a crossroads of cultural transformations that have shaped European prehistory. Here we analyse a 5,000-year transect of human genomes, sampled from petrous bones giving consistently excellent endogenous DNA yields, from 13 Hungarian Neolithic, Copper, Bronze and Iron Age burials including two to high (similar to 22x) and seven to similar to 1x coverage, to investigate the impact of these on Europe's genetic landscape. These data suggest genomic shifts with the advent of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, with interleaved periods of genome stability. The earliest Neolithic context genome shows a European hunter-gatherer genetic signature and a restricted ancestral population size, suggesting direct contact between cultures after the arrival of the first farmers into Europe. The latest, Iron Age, sample reveals an eastern genomic influence concordant with introduced Steppe burial rites. We observe transition towards lighter pigmentation and surprisingly, no Neolithic presence of lactase persistence.
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6257
SN  - 2041-1723
VL  - 5
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Gurke, Marie
A1  - Vidal-Gorosquieta, Amalia
A1  - Pajimans, Johanna L. A.
A1  - Wȩcek, Karolina
A1  - Barlow, Axel
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Hartmann, Stefanie
A1  - Grandal-d’Anglade, Aurora
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
T1  - Insight into the introduction of domestic cattle and the process of Neolithization to the Spanish region Galicia by genetic evidence
T2  - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe
N2  - Domestic cattle were brought to Spain by early settlers and agricultural societies. Due to missing Neolithic sites in the Spanish region of Galicia, very little is known about this process in this region. We sampled 18 cattle subfossils from different ages and different mountain caves in Galicia, of which 11 were subject to sequencing of the mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis, to provide insight into the introduction of cattle to this region. We detected high similarity between samples from different time periods and were able to compare the time frame of the first domesticated cattle in Galicia to data from the connecting region of Cantabria to show a plausible connection between the Neolithization of these two regions. Our data shows a close relationship of the early domesticated cattle of Galicia and modern cow breeds and gives a general insight into cattle phylogeny. We conclude that settlers migrated to this region of Spain from Europe and introduced common European breeds to Galicia.
KW  - Haplogroups
KW  - Mitochondria
KW  - Cattle
KW  - Genomics
KW  - Domestic animals
KW  - Livestock
KW  - Single nucleotide polymorphisms
KW  - Neolithic period
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-520875
SN  - 1866-8372
IS  - 4
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gurke, Marie
A1  - Vidal-Gorosquieta, Amalia
A1  - Pajimans, Johanna L. A.
A1  - Wȩcek, Karolina
A1  - Barlow, Axel
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Hartmann, Stefanie
A1  - Grandal-d’Anglade, Aurora
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
T1  - Insight into the introduction of domestic cattle and the process of Neolithization to the Spanish region Galicia by genetic evidence
JF  - PLoS ONE
N2  - Domestic cattle were brought to Spain by early settlers and agricultural societies. Due to missing Neolithic sites in the Spanish region of Galicia, very little is known about this process in this region. We sampled 18 cattle subfossils from different ages and different mountain caves in Galicia, of which 11 were subject to sequencing of the mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis, to provide insight into the introduction of cattle to this region. We detected high similarity between samples from different time periods and were able to compare the time frame of the first domesticated cattle in Galicia to data from the connecting region of Cantabria to show a plausible connection between the Neolithization of these two regions. Our data shows a close relationship of the early domesticated cattle of Galicia and modern cow breeds and gives a general insight into cattle phylogeny. We conclude that settlers migrated to this region of Spain from Europe and introduced common European breeds to Galicia.
KW  - Haplogroups
KW  - Mitochondria
KW  - Cattle
KW  - Genomics
KW  - Domestic animals
KW  - Livestock
KW  - Single nucleotide polymorphisms
KW  - Neolithic period
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249537
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 16
IS  - 4
PB  - Public Library of Science
CY  - San Francisco
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Jones, Eppie R.
A1  - Lightfoot, Emma
A1  - Bonsall, Clive
A1  - Lazar, Catalin
A1  - Dolores Garralda, Maria
A1  - Drak, Labib
A1  - Siska, Veronika
A1  - Simalcsik, Angela
A1  - Boroneant, Adina
A1  - Vidal Romani, Juan Ramon
A1  - Vaqueiro Rodriguez, Marcos
A1  - Arias, Pablo
A1  - Pinhasi, Ron
A1  - Manica, Andrea
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
T1  - Paleogenomic Evidence for Multi-generational Mixing between Neolithic Farmers and Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers in the Lower Danube Basin
JF  - Current biology
N2  - 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.
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.023
SN  - 0960-9822
SN  - 1879-0445
VL  - 27
SP  - 1801
EP  - +
PB  - Cell Press
CY  - Cambridge
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
A1  - Paijmans, Johanna L. A.
A1  - Goodchild, Helen
A1  - Speller, Camilla F.
A1  - Barlow, Axel
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Thomas, Jessica A.
A1  - Ludwig, Arne
A1  - Collins, Matthew J.
T1  - The future of ancient DNA: Technical advances and conceptual shifts
JF  - Bioessays : ideas that push the boundaries
N2  - Technological innovations such as next generation sequencing and DNA hybridisation enrichment have resulted in multi-fold increases in both the quantity of ancient DNA sequence data and the time depth for DNA retrieval. To date, over 30 ancient genomes have been sequenced, moving from 0.7x coverage (mammoth) in 2008 to more than 50x coverage (Neanderthal) in 2014. Studies of rapid evolutionary changes, such as the evolution and spread of pathogens and the genetic responses of hosts, or the genetics of domestication and climatic adaptation, are developing swiftly and the importance of palaeogenomics for investigating evolutionary processes during the last million years is likely to increase considerably. However, these new datasets require new methods of data processing and analysis, as well as conceptual changes in interpreting the results. In this review we highlight important areas of future technical and conceptual progress and discuss research topics in the rapidly growing field of palaeogenomics.
KW  - ancient DNA
KW  - hybridisation capture
KW  - multi-locus data
KW  - next generation sequencing (NGS)
KW  - palaeogenomics
KW  - population genomics
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201400160
SN  - 0265-9247
SN  - 1521-1878
VL  - 37
IS  - 3
SP  - 284
EP  - 293
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ludwig, Arne
A1  - Reissmann, Monika
A1  - Benecke, Norbert
A1  - Bellone, Rebecca
A1  - Sandoval-Castellanos, Edson
A1  - Cieslak, Michael
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Morales-Muniz, Arturo
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
A1  - Pruvost, Melanie
T1  - Twenty-five thousand years of fluctuating selection on leopard complex spotting and congenital night blindness in horses
JF  - Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences
N2  - Leopard complex spotting is inherited by the incompletely dominant locus, LP, which also causes congenital stationary night blindness in homozygous horses. We investigated an associated single nucleotide polymorphism in the TRPM1 gene in 96 archaeological bones from 31 localities from Late Pleistocene (approx. 17 000 YBP) to medieval times. The first genetic evidence of LP spotting in Europe dates back to the Pleistocene. We tested for temporal changes in the LP associated allele frequency and estimated coefficients of selection by means of approximate Bayesian computation analyses. Our results show that at least some of the observed frequency changes are congruent with shifts in artificial selection pressure for the leopard complex spotting phenotype. In early domestic horses from Kirklareli-Kanligecit (Turkey) dating to 2700-2200 BC, a remarkably high number of leopard spotted horses (six of 10 individuals) was detected including one adult homozygote. However, LP seems to have largely disappeared during the late Bronze Age, suggesting selection against this phenotype in early domestic horses. During the Iron Age, LP reappeared, probably by reintroduction into the domestic gene pool from wild animals. This picture of alternating selective regimes might explain how genetic diversity was maintained in domestic animals despite selection for specific traits at different times.
KW  - ancient DNA
KW  - coat colour
KW  - domestication
KW  - Equus
KW  - palaeogenetics
KW  - population
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0386
SN  - 0962-8436
SN  - 1471-2970
VL  - 370
IS  - 1660
PB  - Royal Society
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Jones, Eppie R.
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Connell, Sarah
A1  - Siska, Veronika
A1  - Eriksson, Anders
A1  - Martiniano, Rui
A1  - McLaughlin, Russell L.
A1  - Llorente, Marcos Gallego
A1  - Cassidy, Lara M.
A1  - Gamba, Cristina
A1  - Meshveliani, Tengiz
A1  - Bar-Yosef, Ofer
A1  - Müller, Werner
A1  - Belfer-Cohen, Anna
A1  - Matskevich, Zinovi
A1  - Jakeli, Nino
A1  - Higham, Thomas F. G.
A1  - Currat, Mathias
A1  - Lordkipanidze, David
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
A1  - Manica, Andrea
A1  - Pinhasi, Ron
A1  - Bradley, Daniel G.
T1  - Upper Palaeolithic genomes reveal deep roots of modern Eurasians
T2  - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe
N2  - We extend the scope of European palaeogenomics by sequencing the genomes of Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,300 years old, 1.4-fold coverage) and Mesolithic (9,700 years old, 15.4-fold) males from western Georgia in the Caucasus and a Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,700 years old, 9.5-fold) male from Switzerland. While we detect Late Palaeolithic–Mesolithic genomic continuity in both regions, we find that Caucasus hunter-gatherers (CHG) belong to a distinct ancient clade that split from western hunter-gatherers ∼45 kya, shortly after the expansion of anatomically modern humans into Europe and from the ancestors of Neolithic farmers ∼25 kya, around the Last Glacial Maximum. CHG genomes significantly contributed to the Yamnaya steppe herders who migrated into Europe ∼3,000 BC, supporting a formative Caucasus influence on this important Early Bronze age culture. CHG left their imprint on modern populations from the Caucasus and also central and south Asia possibly marking the arrival of Indo-Aryan languages.
T3  - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1334 
Y1  - 2015
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-439317
SN  - 1866-8372
IS  - 1334
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Jones, Eppie R.
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Connell, Sarah
A1  - Siska, Veronika
A1  - Eriksson, Anders
A1  - Martiniano, Rui
A1  - McLaughlin, Russell L.
A1  - Llorente, Marcos Gallego
A1  - Cassidy, Lara M.
A1  - Gamba, Cristina
A1  - Meshveliani, Tengiz
A1  - Bar-Yosef, Ofer
A1  - Mueller, Werner
A1  - Belfer-Cohen, Anna
A1  - Matskevich, Zinovi
A1  - Jakeli, Nino
A1  - Higham, Thomas F. G.
A1  - Currat, Mathias
A1  - Lordkipanidze, David
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
A1  - Manica, Andrea
A1  - Pinhasi, Ron
A1  - Bradley, Daniel G.
T1  - Upper Palaeolithic genomes reveal deep roots of modern Eurasians
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - We extend the scope of European palaeogenomics by sequencing the genomes of Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,300 years old, 1.4-fold coverage) and Mesolithic (9,700 years old, 15.4-fold) males from western Georgia in the Caucasus and a Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,700 years old, 9.5-fold) male from Switzerland. While we detect Late Palaeolithic-Mesolithic genomic continuity in both regions, we find that Caucasus hunter-gatherers (CHG) belong to a distinct ancient clade that split from western hunter-gatherers similar to 45 kya, shortly after the expansion of anatomically modern humans into Europe and from the ancestors of Neolithic farmers similar to 25 kya, around the Last Glacial Maximum. CHG genomes significantly contributed to the Yamnaya steppe herders who migrated into Europe similar to 3,000 BC, supporting a formative Caucasus influence on this important Early Bronze age culture. CHG left their imprint on modern populations from the Caucasus and also central and south Asia possibly marking the arrival of Indo-Aryan languages.
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9912
SN  - 2041-1723
VL  - 6
PB  - Nature Publishing Group
CY  - London
ER  -