Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC, Seville, Spain.
Faculty of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Princeton, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Mol Ecol. 2021 Dec;30(23):6101-6120. doi: 10.1111/mec.15784. Epub 2021 Jan 16.
Pleistocene climate change impacted entire ecosystems throughout the world. In the northern hemisphere, the distribution of Arctic species expanded during glacial periods, while more temperate and mesic species contracted into climatic refugia, where isolation drove genetic divergence. Cycles of local cooling and warming in the Sahara region of northern Africa caused repeated contractions and expansions of savannah-like environments which connected mesic species isolated in refugia during interglacial times, possibly driving population expansions and contractions; divergence and geneflow in the associated fauna. Here, we use whole genome sequences of African golden wolves (Canis lupaster), a generalist mesopredator with a wide distribution in northern Africa to estimate their demographic history and past episodes of geneflow. We detect a correlation between divergence times and cycles of increased aridity-associated Pleistocene glacial cycles. A complex demographic history with responses to local climate change in different lineages was found, including a relict lineage north of the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco that has been isolated for more than 18,000 years, possibly a distinct ecotype.
更新世气候变化影响了世界各地的整个生态系统。在北半球，北极物种的分布在冰期扩大，而更多的温带和中生带物种收缩到气候避难所，在那里隔离导致了遗传分歧。非洲北部撒哈拉地区的局部冷却和变暖循环导致了类似热带稀树草原环境的反复收缩和扩张，这些环境在间冰期将隔离在避难所中的中生带物种连接起来，可能导致了种群的扩张和收缩；相关动物群的分化和基因流。在这里，我们使用非洲金豺（Canis lupaster）的全基因组序列，一种分布广泛的中生代捕食者，来估计它们的种群历史和过去的基因流动事件。我们发现，分化时间与干旱相关的更新世冰川周期之间存在相关性。在不同的谱系中发现了一个复杂的种群历史，包括摩洛哥阿特拉斯山脉北部的一个隔离了超过 18000 年的残余谱系，可能是一个独特的生态型。
