Matthias Meyer, Eleftheria Palkopoulou, Sina Isabelle Baleka, Mathias Stiller, Kirsty E. H. Penkman, Kurt W. Alt, Yasuko Ishida, Dietrich Mania, Swapan Mallick, Tom Meijer, Harald Meller, Sarah Nagel, Birgit Nickel, Sven Ostritz, Nadin Rohland, Karol Schauer, Tim Schüler, Alfred L. Roca, David Reich, Beth Shapiro, Michael Hofreiter
- 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 ofThe 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.…
MetadatenVerfasserangaben: | Matthias MeyerORCiD, Eleftheria Palkopoulou, Sina Isabelle BalekaORCiDGND, Mathias StillerGND, Kirsty E. H. PenkmanORCiD, Kurt W. AltGND, Yasuko Ishida, Dietrich ManiaGND, Swapan Mallick, Tom Meijer, Harald MellerGND, Sarah Nagel, Birgit Nickel, Sven OstritzGND, Nadin RohlandORCiD, Karol Schauer, Tim SchülerGND, Alfred L. RocaORCiD, David ReichORCiD, Beth ShapiroORCiD, Michael HofreiterORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-440139 |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.25932/publishup-44013 |
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ISSN: | 1866-8372 |
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Titel des übergeordneten Werks (Deutsch): | Postprints der Universität Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe |
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Schriftenreihe (Bandnummer): | Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe (790) |
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Publikationstyp: | Postprint |
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Sprache: | Englisch |
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Datum der Erstveröffentlichung: | 10.12.2019 |
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Erscheinungsjahr: | 2017 |
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Veröffentlichende Institution: | Universität Potsdam |
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Datum der Freischaltung: | 10.12.2019 |
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Freies Schlagwort / Tag: | African elephants; DNA; Palaeoloxodon-antiquus; Pleistocene; alignment; ancient; genome sequence; phylogenetic analysis; reveal; woolly mammoth |
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Ausgabe: | 790 |
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Seitenanzahl: | 14 |
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Quelle: | eLife 6 (2017) Art. e25413 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.25413 |
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Organisationseinheiten: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät |
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DDC-Klassifikation: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 50 Naturwissenschaften / 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik |
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| 6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 60 Technik / 600 Technik, Technologie |
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Peer Review: | Referiert |
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Publikationsweg: | Open Access |
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Lizenz (Deutsch): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
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