Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD), School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Trends Ecol Evol. 2021 Mar;36(3):258-267. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.10.005. Epub 2021 Jan 14.
The many high-resolution tools that are uniquely applicable to specimens from the Quaternary period (the past ~2.5 Ma) provide an opportunity to cross-validate data and test hypotheses based on the morphology and distribution of fossils. Among these tools is palaeogenomics - the genome-scale sequencing of genetic material from ancient specimens - that can provide direct insight into ecology and evolution, potentially improving the accuracy of inferences about past ecological communities over longer timescales. Palaeogenomics has revealed instances of over- and underestimation of extinct diversity, detected cryptic faunal migration and turnover, allowed quantification of widespread sex biases and sexual dimorphism in the fossil record, revealed past hybridisation events and hybrid individuals, and has highlighted previously unrecognised routes of zoonotic disease transfer.
许多适用于第四纪（过去约 250 万年）标本的高分辨率工具为基于化石的形态和分布来交叉验证数据和检验假设提供了机会。这些工具中包括古基因组学——对古代样本遗传物质进行基因组规模的测序——它可以直接深入了解生态和进化，有可能提高对过去生态群落的推断的准确性，推断的时间跨度更长。古基因组学揭示了对已灭绝多样性的高估和低估的实例，检测到隐藏的动物群迁移和更替，允许对化石记录中广泛存在的性别偏见和性别二态性进行量化，揭示了过去的杂交事件和杂交个体，并强调了以前未被识别的人畜共患病转移途径。
