Ancient DNA evidence for the loss of a highly divergent brown bear clade during historical times.

Full Abstract

The genetic diversity of present-day brown bears (Ursus arctos) has been extensively studied over the years and appears to be geographically structured into five main clades. The question of the past diversity of the species has been recently addressed by ancient DNA studies that concluded to a relative genetic stability over the last 35,000 years. However, the post-last glacial maximum genetic diversity of the species still remains poorly documented, notably in the Old World. Here, we analyse Atlas brown bears, which became extinct during the Holocene period. A divergent brown bear mitochondrial DNA lineage not present in any of the previously studied modern or ancient bear samples was uncovered, suggesting that the diversity of U. arctos was larger in the past than it is now. Specifically, a significant portion (with respect to sequence divergence) of the intraspecific diversity of the brown bear was lost with the extinction of the Atlas brown bear after the Pleistocene/Holocene transition.

Author information

Author/s: Calvignac, Sebastien (S); Hughes, Sandrine (S); Tougard, Christelle (C); Michaux, Jacques (J); Thevenot, Michel (M); Philippe, Michel (M); Hamdine, Watik (W); Hänni, Catherine (C);

Affiliation: Institute de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, UMR 5242 CNRS/INRA/Université Claude Bernard LyonI/ENS, IFR128 BioSciences Lyon-Gerland Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Molecular ecology (Mol Ecol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Apr; vol 17 (issue 8) : pp 1962-70

Dates: Created 2008/04/16; Completed 2008/06/11; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 18363668, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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