Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 117, Issue 20, Pages 10927-10934Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1919423117
Keywords
lion; genomics; evolution
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Funding
- National Research Council Research Associateship Award at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR)
- St. Petersburg State University (Genome Russia) [1.52.1647.2016]
- MINECO/FEDER, UE [BFU2017-86471-P]
- Howard Hughes International Early Career
- Obra Social La Caixa
- Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca and Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA) Programme del Departament d'Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya [GRC 2017 SGR 880]
- European Research Council (ERC) [681396]
- Marie-Sklodowska Curie Fellowship [298820]
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Lions are one of the world's most iconic megafauna, yet little is known about their temporal and spatial demographic history and population differentiation. We analyzed a genomic dataset of 20 specimens: two ca. 30,000-y-old cave lions (Panthera leo spelaea), 12 historic lions (Panthera leo leolPanthera leo melanochaita) that lived between the 15th and 20th centuries outside the current geographic distribution of lions, and 6 present-day lions from Africa and India. We found that cave and modern lions shared an ancestor ca. 500,000 y ago and that the 2 lineages likely did not hybridize following their divergence. Within modern lions, we found 2 main lineages that diverged ca. 70,000 y ago, with clear evidence of subsequent gene flow. Our data also reveal a nearly complete absence of genetic diversity within Indian lions, probably due to well-documented extremely low effective population sizes in the recent past. Our results contribute toward the understanding of the evolutionary history of lions and complement conservation efforts to protect the diversity of this vulnerable species.
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