TY  - JOUR
A1  - Förster, Saskia
A1  - Kaden, Klaus
A1  - Förster, Michael
A1  - Itzerott, Sibylle
T1  - Crop type mapping using spectral-temporal profiles and phenological information
JF  - Computers and electronics in agriculture
N2  - Spatially explicit multi-year crop information is required for many environmental applications. The study presented here proposes a hierarchical classification approach for per-plot crop type identification that is based on spectral-temporal profiles and accounts for deviations from the average growth stage timings by incorporating agro-meteorological information in the classification process. It is based on the fact that each crop type has a distinct seasonal spectral behavior and that the weather may accelerate or delay crop development. The classification approach was applied to map 12 crop types in a 14,000 km(2) catchment area in Northeast Germany for several consecutive years. An accuracy assessment was performed and compared to those of a maximum likelihood classification. The 7.1% lower overall classification accuracy of the spectral-temporal profiles approach may be justified by its independence of ground truth data. The results suggest that the number and timing of image acquisition is crucial to distinguish crop types. The increasing availability of optical imagery offering a high temporal coverage and a spatial resolution suitable for per-plot crop type mapping will facilitate the continuous refining of the spectral-temporal profiles for common crop types and different agro-regions and is expected to improve the classification accuracy of crop type maps using these profiles.
KW  - Crop type mapping
KW  - NDVI temporal profiles
KW  - Multi-temporal
KW  - Phenological correction
KW  - Agro-meteorological data
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2012.07.015
SN  - 0168-1699
VL  - 89
IS  - 32
SP  - 30
EP  - 40
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weber, Michael H.
A1  - Abu-Ayyash, Khalil
A1  - Abueladas, Abdel-Rahman
A1  - Agnon, Amotz
A1  - Al-Amoush, H.
A1  - Babeyko, Andrey
A1  - Bartov, Yosef
A1  - Baumann, M.
A1  - Ben-Avraham, Zvi
A1  - Bock, Günter
A1  - Bribach, Jens
A1  - El-Kelani, R.
A1  - Forster, A.
A1  - Förster, Hans-Jürgen
A1  - Frieslander, U.
A1  - Garfunkel, Zvi
A1  - Grunewald, Steffen
A1  - Gotze, Hans-Jürgen
A1  - Haak, Volker
A1  - Haberland, Christian
A1  - Hassouneh, Mohammed
A1  - Helwig, S.
A1  - Hofstetter, Alfons
A1  - Jackel, K. H.
A1  - Kesten, Dagmar
A1  - Kind, Rainer
A1  - Maercklin, Nils
A1  - Mechie, James
A1  - Mohsen, Amjad
A1  - Neubauer, F. M.
A1  - Oberhänsli, Roland
A1  - Qabbani, I.
A1  - Ritter, O.
A1  - Rumpker, G.
A1  - Rybakov, M.
A1  - Ryberg, Trond
A1  - Scherbaum, Frank
A1  - Schmidt, J.
A1  - Schulze, A.
A1  - Sobolev, Stephan Vladimir
A1  - Stiller, M.
A1  - Th, 
T1  - The crustal structure of the Dead Sea Transform
N2  - To address one of the central questions of plate tectonics-How do large transform systems work and what are their typical features?-seismic investigations across the Dead Sea Transform (DST), the boundary between the African and Arabian plates in the Middle East, were conducted for the first time. A major component of these investigations was a combined reflection/ refraction survey across the territories of Palestine, Israel and Jordan. The main results of this study are: (1) The seismic basement is offset by 3-5 km under the DST, (2) The DST cuts through the entire crust, broadening in the lower crust, (3) Strong lower crustal reflectors are imaged only on one side of the DST, (4) The seismic velocity sections show a steady increase in the depth of the crust-mantle transition (Moho) from 26 km at the Mediterranean to 39 km under the Jordan highlands, with only a small but visible, asymmetric topography of the Moho under the DST. These observations can be linked to the left-lateral movement of 105 km of the two plates in the last 17 Myr, accompanied by strong deformation within a narrow zone cutting through the entire crust. Comparing the DST and the San Andreas Fault (SAF) system, a strong asymmetry in subhorizontal lower crustal reflectors and a deep reaching deformation zone both occur around the DST and the SAF. The fact that such lower crustal reflectors and deep deformation zones are observed in such different transform systems suggests that these structures are possibly fundamental features of large transform plate boundaries
Y1  - 2004
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Voigt-Zimmermann, Susanne
A1  - Stier, Karl-Heinz
A1  - Lascheit, Thomas
A1  - Kruse, Stephanie A.
A1  - Blickensdorff, Maria
A1  - Förster, Theresa
A1  - Schumacher, Rebecca
A1  - Burchert, Frank
A1  - Ablinger, Irene
A1  - Förster, Christine
A1  - Wahl, Michael
A1  - Schirmacher, Irene
A1  - Ostermann, Frank
A1  - Welke, Lisa-Marie
A1  - Frank, Ulrike
A1  - Zakariás, Lilla
A1  - Salis, Christos
A1  - Wartenburger, Isabell
A1  - Krug, Ragna
A1  - Stübner, Hanna
A1  - Hoffmann, Sophie
A1  - Heide, Judith
ED  - Fritzsche, Tom
ED  - Yetim, Özlem
ED  - Otto, Constanze
ED  - Adelt, Anne
T1  - Spektrum Patholinguistik Band 11. Schwerpunktthema: Gut gestimmt: Diagnostik und Therapie bei Dysphonie
N2  - Das 11. Herbsttreffen Patholinguistik mit dem Schwerpunktthema »Gut gestimmt: Diagnostik und Therapie bei Dysphonie« fand am 18.11.2017 in Potsdam statt. Das Herbsttreffen wird seit 2007 jährlich vom Verband für Patholinguistik e.V. (vpl) durchgeführt. Der vorliegende Tagungsband beinhaltet die Hauptvorträge zum Schwerpunktthema sowie Beiträge zu den Kurzvorträgen »Spektrum Patholinguistik« und der Posterpräsentationen zu weiteren Themen aus der sprachtherapeutischen Forschung und Praxis.
N2  - The Eleventh Autumn Meeting Patholinguistics (Herbsttreffen Patholinguistik) with its main topic »Well tuned: Diagnostics and therapy in dysphonia« took place in Potsdam on November 18 2017. This annual meeting has been organised since 2007 by the Association for Patholinguistics (Verband für Patholinguistik e.V./vpl). The present proceedings contain the keynote talks on the main topic as well as contributions from the short talks in the section »Spectrum Patholinguistics« and from the poster session covering a broad range of areas in speech/language therapy research and practice.
T3  - Spektrum Patholinguistik - 11 
KW  - Patholinguistik
KW  - Sprachtherapie
KW  - Stimmtherapie
KW  - Stimmstörung
KW  - Dysphonie
KW  - patholinguistics
KW  - speech/language therapy
KW  - voice therapy
KW  - dysphonia
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-418574
SN  - 978-3-86956-448-7
SN  - 1866-9085
SN  - 1866-9433
IS  - 11
PB  - Universitätsverlag Potsdam
CY  - Potsdam
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Abramowski, Attila
A1  - Aharonian, Felix A.
A1  - Benkhali, Faical Ait
A1  - Akhperjanian, A. G.
A1  - Angüner, Ekrem Oǧuzhan
A1  - Backes, Michael
A1  - Balenderan, Shangkari
A1  - Balzer, Arnim
A1  - Barnacka, Anna
A1  - Becherini, Yvonne
A1  - Tjus, Julia Becker
A1  - Berge, David
A1  - Bernhard, Sabrina
A1  - Bernlöhr, Konrad
A1  - Birsin, E.
A1  - Biteau, Jonathan
A1  - Böttcher, Markus
A1  - Boisson, Catherine
A1  - Bolmont, J.
A1  - Bordas, Pol
A1  - Bregeon, Johan
A1  - Brun, Francois
A1  - Brun, Pierre
A1  - Bryan, Mark
A1  - Bulik, Tomasz
A1  - Carrigan, Svenja
A1  - Casanova, Sabrina
A1  - Chadwick, Paula M.
A1  - Chakraborty, Nachiketa
A1  - Chalme-Calvet, R.
A1  - Chaves, Ryan C. G.
A1  - Chretien, M.
A1  - Colafrancesco, Sergio
A1  - Cologna, Gabriele
A1  - Conrad, Jan
A1  - Couturier, Claire
A1  - Cui, Yudong
A1  - Davids, Isak Delberth
A1  - Degrange, Bernhard
A1  - Deil, Christoph
A1  - deWilt, P.
A1  - Djannati-Ataï, A.
A1  - Domainko, Wilfried
A1  - Donath, Axel
A1  - Dubus, G.
A1  - Dutson, K.
A1  - Dyks, J.
A1  - Dyrda, M.
A1  - Edwards, Tanya
A1  - Egberts, Kathrin
A1  - Eger, Peter
A1  - Espigat, P.
A1  - Farnier, C.
A1  - Fegan, Stephen
A1  - Feinstein, Fabrice
A1  - Fernandes, Milton Virgilio
A1  - Fernandez, Diane
A1  - Fiasson, A.
A1  - Fontaine, Gerard
A1  - Förster, Andreas
A1  - Fuessling, M.
A1  - Gabici, S.
A1  - Gajdus, M.
A1  - Gallant, Yves A.
A1  - Garrigoux, Tania
A1  - Giavitto, G.
A1  - Giebels, Berrie
A1  - Glicenstein, Jean-Francois
A1  - Gottschall, Daniel
A1  - Grondin, M. -H.
A1  - Grudzinska, M.
A1  - Hadasch, Daniela
A1  - Haeffner, S.
A1  - Hahn, Joachim
A1  - Harris, Jonathan
A1  - Heinzelmann, Götz
A1  - Henri, G.
A1  - Hermann, German
A1  - Hervet, O.
A1  - Hillert, Andreas
A1  - Hinton, James Anthony
A1  - Hofmann, Werner
A1  - Hofverberg, Petter
A1  - Holler, Markus
A1  - Horns, Dieter
A1  - Ivascenko, Alex
A1  - Jacholkowska, A.
A1  - Jahn, C.
A1  - Jamrozy, Marek
A1  - Janiak, M.
A1  - Jankowsky, F.
A1  - Jung-Richardt, I.
A1  - Kastendieck, Max Anton
A1  - Katarzynski, K.
A1  - Katz, U.
A1  - Kaufmann, S.
A1  - Khelifi, B.
A1  - Kieffer, Michel
A1  - Klepser, S.
A1  - Klochkov, Dmitry
A1  - Kluzniak, W.
A1  - Kolitzus, David
A1  - Komin, Nu
A1  - Kosack, Karl
A1  - Krakau, Steffen
A1  - Krayzel, F.
A1  - Krueger, Pat P.
A1  - Laffon, H.
A1  - Lamanna, G.
A1  - Lefaucheur, J.
A1  - Lefranc, Valentin
A1  - Lemiere, A.
A1  - Lemoine-Goumard, M.
A1  - Lenain, J. -P.
A1  - Lohse, Thomas
A1  - Lopatin, A.
A1  - Lu, Chia-Chun
A1  - Marandon, Vincent
A1  - Marcowith, Alexandre
A1  - Marx, Ramin
A1  - Maurin, G.
A1  - Maxted, Nigel
A1  - Mayer, Michael
A1  - McComb, T. J. Lowry
A1  - Mehault, J.
A1  - Meintjes, P. J.
A1  - Menzler, Ulf
A1  - Meyer, M.
A1  - Mitchell, Alison M. W.
A1  - Moderski, R.
A1  - Mohamed, M.
A1  - Mora, K.
A1  - Moulin, Emmanuel
A1  - Murach, Thomas
A1  - de Naurois, Mathieu
A1  - Niemiec, J.
A1  - Nolan, Sam J.
A1  - Oakes, Louise
A1  - Odaka, Hirokazu
A1  - Ohm, S.
A1  - Optiz, Björn
A1  - Ostrowski, Michal
A1  - Oya, I.
A1  - Panter, Michael
A1  - Parsons, R. Daniel
A1  - Arribas, M. Paz
A1  - Pekeur, Nikki W.
A1  - Pelletier, G.
A1  - Petrucci, P. -O.
A1  - Peyaud, B.
A1  - Pita, S.
A1  - Poon, Helen
A1  - Pühlhofer, Gerd
A1  - Punch, M.
A1  - Quirrenbach, A.
A1  - Raab, S.
A1  - Reichardt, I.
A1  - Reimer, Anita
A1  - Reimer, Olaf
A1  - Renaud, Metz
A1  - de los Reyes, Raquel
A1  - Rieger, Frank
A1  - Romoli, C.
A1  - Rosier-Lees, S.
A1  - Rowell, G.
A1  - Rudak, B.
A1  - Rulten, C. B.
A1  - Sahakian, Vardan
A1  - Salek, D.
A1  - Sanchez, David M.
A1  - Santangelo, Andrea
A1  - Schlickeiser, Reinhard
A1  - Schuessler, F.
A1  - Schulz, A.
A1  - Schwanke, Ullrich
A1  - Schwarzburg, S.
A1  - Schwemmer, S.
A1  - Sol, H.
A1  - Spanier, Felix
A1  - Spengler, G.
A1  - Spies, Franziska
A1  - Stawarz, Lukasz
A1  - Steenkamp, Riaan
A1  - Stegmann, Christian
A1  - Stinzing, F.
A1  - Stycz, K.
A1  - Sushch, Iurii
A1  - Tavernet, J. -P.
A1  - Tavernier, T.
A1  - Taylor, A. M.
A1  - Terrier, R.
A1  - Tluczykont, Martin
A1  - Trichard, C.
A1  - Valerius, K.
A1  - van Eldik, C.
A1  - van Soelen, B.
A1  - Vasileiadis, Georges
A1  - Veh, J.
A1  - Venter, Christo
A1  - Viana, Aion
A1  - Vincent, P.
A1  - Vink, Jacco
A1  - Völk, Heinrich J.
A1  - Volpe, Francesca
A1  - Vorster, Martine
A1  - Vuillaume, T.
A1  - Wagner, S. J.
A1  - Wagner, P.
A1  - Wagner, R. M.
A1  - Ward, Martin
A1  - Weidinger, Matthias
A1  - Weitzel, Quirin
A1  - White, R.
A1  - Wierzcholska, A.
A1  - Willmann, P.
A1  - Woernlein, A.
A1  - Wouters, D.
A1  - Yang, Ruizhi
A1  - Zabalza, Victor
A1  - Zaborov, Dmitry
A1  - Zacharias, M.
A1  - Zdziarski, A. A.
A1  - Zech, Alraune
A1  - Zechlin, Hannes -S.
T1  - H.E.S.S. detection of TeV emission from the interaction region between the supernova remnant G349.7+0.2 and a molecular cloud (vol 574, A100, 2015)
T2  - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal
KW  - gamma rays: general
KW  - ISM: supernova remnants
KW  - ISM: clouds
KW  - errata, addenda
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201425070e
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 580
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - King, Turi E.
A1  - Gonzalez-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Balaresque, Patricia
A1  - Thomas, Mark G.
A1  - Balding, David
A1  - Delser, Pierpaolo Maisano
A1  - Neumann, Rita
A1  - Parson, Walther
A1  - Knapp, Michael
A1  - Walsh, Susan
A1  - Tonasso, Laure
A1  - Holt, John
A1  - Kayser, Manfred
A1  - Appleby, Jo
A1  - Forster, Peter
A1  - Ekserdjian, David
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
A1  - Schuerer, Kevin
T1  - Identification of the remains of King Richard III
JF  - Nature Communications
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6631
SN  - 2041-1723
VL  - 5
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weber, Michael H.
A1  - Abu-Ayyash, Khalil
A1  - Abueladas, Abdel-Rahman
A1  - Agnon, Amotz
A1  - Alasonati-Tašárová, Zuzana
A1  - Al-Zubi, Hashim
A1  - Babeyko, Andrey
A1  - Bartov, Yuval
A1  - Bauer, Klaus
A1  - Becken, Michael
A1  - Bedrosian, Paul A.
A1  - Ben-Avraham, Zvi
A1  - Bock, Günter
A1  - Bohnhoff, Marco
A1  - Bribach, Jens
A1  - Dulski, Peter
A1  - Ebbing, Joerg
A1  - El-Kelani, Radwan J.
A1  - Foerster, Andrea
A1  - Förster, Hans-Jürgen
A1  - Frieslander, Uri
A1  - Garfunkel, Zvi
A1  - Götze, Hans-Jürgen
A1  - Haak, Volker
A1  - Haberland, Christian
A1  - Hassouneh, Mohammed
A1  - Helwig, Stefan L.
A1  - Hofstetter, Alfons
A1  - Hoffmann-Rothe, Arne
A1  - Jaeckel, Karl-Heinz
A1  - Janssen, Christoph
A1  - Jaser, Darweesh
A1  - Kesten, Dagmar
A1  - Khatib, Mohammed Ghiath
A1  - Kind, Rainer
A1  - Koch, Olaf
A1  - Koulakov, Ivan
A1  - Laske, Maria Gabi
A1  - Maercklin, Nils
T1  - Anatomy of the Dead Sea transform from lithospheric to microscopic scale
N2  - Fault zones are the locations where motion of tectonic plates, often associated with earthquakes, is accommodated. Despite a rapid increase in the understanding of faults in the last decades, our knowledge of their geometry, petrophysical properties, and controlling processes remains incomplete. The central questions addressed here in our study of the Dead Sea Transform (DST) in the Middle East are as follows: (1) What are the structure and kinematics of a large fault zone? (2) What controls its structure and kinematics? (3) How does the DST compare to other plate boundary fault zones? The DST has accommodated a total of 105 km of left-lateral transform motion between the African and Arabian plates since early Miocene (similar to 20 Ma). The DST segment between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, called the Arava/Araba Fault (AF), is studied here using a multidisciplinary and multiscale approach from the mu m to the plate tectonic scale. We observe that under the DST a narrow, subvertical zone cuts through crust and lithosphere. First, from west to east the crustal thickness increases smoothly from 26 to 39 km, and a subhorizontal lower crustal reflector is detected east of the AF. Second, several faults exist in the upper crust in a 40 km wide zone centered on the AF, but none have kilometer-size zones of decreased seismic velocities or zones of high electrical conductivities in the upper crust expected for large damage zones. Third, the AF is the main branch of the DST system, even though it has accommodated only a part (up to 60 km) of the overall 105 km of sinistral plate motion. Fourth, the AF acts as a barrier to fluids to a depth of 4 km, and the lithology changes abruptly across it. Fifth, in the top few hundred meters of the AF a locally transpressional regime is observed in a 100-300 m wide zone of deformed and displaced material, bordered by subparallel faults forming a positive flower structure. Other segments of the AF have a transtensional character with small pull-aparts along them. The damage zones of the individual faults are only 5-20 m wide at this depth range. Sixth, two areas on the AF show mesoscale to microscale faulting and veining in limestone sequences with faulting depths between 2 and 5 km. Seventh, fluids in the AF are carried downward into the fault zone. Only a minor fraction of fluids is derived from ascending hydrothermal fluids. However, we found that on the kilometer scale the AF does not act as an important fluid conduit. Most of these findings are corroborated using thermomechanical modeling where shear deformation in the upper crust is localized in one or two major faults; at larger depth, shear deformation occurs in a 20-40 km wide zone with a mechanically weak decoupling zone extending subvertically through the entire lithosphere.
Y1  - 2009
UR  - http://www.agu.org/journals/rg/
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1029/2008rg000264
SN  - 8755-1209
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Förster, Christine
A1  - Wahl, Michael
T1  - Unterstützte Kommunikation in der Sprachtherapie
BT  - Interdisziplinär bewirken wir mehr
JF  - Spektrum Patholinguistik
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-437760
SN  - 978-3-86956-448-7
SN  - 1866-9085
SN  - 1866-9433
IS  - 11
SP  - 91
EP  - 111
PB  - Universitätsverlag Potsdam
CY  - Potsdam
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Paijmans, Johanna L. A.
A1  - Barlow, Axel
A1  - Förster, Daniel W.
A1  - Henneberger, Kirstin
A1  - Meyer, Matthias
A1  - Nickel, Birgit
A1  - Nagel, Doris
A1  - Worsøe Havmøller, Rasmus
A1  - Baryshnikov, Gennady F.
A1  - Joger, Ulrich
A1  - Rosendahl, Wilfried
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
T1  - Historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) and its extinct Eurasian populations
T2  - Postprints der Universität Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe
N2  - 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.
T3  - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 505 
KW  - Ancient DNA
KW  - Hybridisation capture
KW  - Leopards
KW  - Mitochondrial genomes
KW  - Mitogenomes
KW  - mtDNA
KW  - Palaeogenetics
KW  - Panthera pardus
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-422555
SN  - 1866-8372
IS  - 505
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Paijmans, Johanna L. A.
A1  - Barlow, Axel
A1  - Förster, Daniel W.
A1  - Henneberger, Kirstin
A1  - Meyer, Matthias
A1  - Nickel, Birgit
A1  - Nagel, Doris
A1  - Worsøe Havmøller, Rasmus
A1  - Baryshnikov, Gennady F.
A1  - Joger, Ulrich
A1  - Rosendahl, Wilfried
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
T1  - Historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) and its extinct Eurasian populations
JF  - BMC Evolutionary Biology
N2  - 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.
KW  - Ancient DNA
KW  - Hybridisation capture
KW  - Leopards
KW  - Mitochondrial genomes
KW  - Mitogenomes
KW  - mtDNA
KW  - Palaeogenetics
KW  - Panthera pardus
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-018-1268-0
SN  - 1471-2148
VL  - 18
IS  - 156
PB  - BioMed Central und Springer
CY  - London, Berlin und Heidelberg
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Scheller, Frieder W.
A1  - Makower, Alexander
A1  - Ghindilis, A. L.
A1  - Bier, Frank Fabian
A1  - Ehrentreich-Förster, Eva
A1  - Wollenberger, Ursula
A1  - Bauer, Christian G.
A1  - Micheel, Burkhard
A1  - Pfeiffer, Dorothea
A1  - Szeponik, Jan
A1  - Michael, N.
A1  - Kaden, H.
T1  - Enzyme sensors for subnanomolar concentrations
Y1  - 1995
ER  -