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The evolutionary history of extinct and living lions

de Manuel M 1 , Barnett R 2 , Sandoval-Velasco M 2 , Yamaguchi N 3 , Garrett Vieira F 2 , Zepeda Mendoza ML 2 Show all authors , Liu S 4 , Martin MD 5 , Sinding MS 2 , Mak SST 2 , Carøe C 2 , Liu S 2 , Guo C 4 , Zheng J 4 , Zazula G 6 , Baryshnikov G 7 , Eizirik E 8 , Koepfli KP 9 , Johnson WE 9 , Antunes A 10 , Sicheritz-Ponten T 2 , Gopalakrishnan S 2 , Larson G 11 , Yang H 4 , O'Brien SJ 12 , Hansen AJ 13 , Zhang G 4 , Marques-Bonet T 14 , Gilbert MTP 15

Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), PRBB, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
  • 2 Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 3 Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, University Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; lgdchief@gmail.com tomas.marques@upf.edu tgilbert@sund.ku.dk nobuyuki.yamaguchi@umt.edu.my
  • 4 BGI-Shenzhen, 518083 Shenzhen, China
  • 5 Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) University Museum, 7012 Trondheim, Norway
  • 6 Yukon Palaeontology Program, Department of Tourism and Culture, Government of Yukon, Y1A 2C6 Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
  • 7 Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia
  • 8 Laboratory of Genomics and Molecular Biology, Escola de Ciências da Saúde e da Vida, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, RS 90619-900, Brazil
  • 9 Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, VA 22630
  • 10 Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR/CIMAR), University of Porto, 4450-208 Porto, Portugal
  • 11 The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, OX1 3QY Oxford, United Kingdom
  • 12 Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, Center for Computer Technologies, ITMO (Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics) University, 197101 St. Petersburg, Russia; lgdchief@gmail.com tomas.marques@upf.edu tgilbert@sund.ku.dk nobuyuki.yamaguchi@umt.edu.my
  • 13 Section for GeoGenetics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 14 Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), PRBB, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; lgdchief@gmail.com tomas.marques@upf.edu tgilbert@sund.ku.dk nobuyuki.yamaguchi@umt.edu.my
  • 15 Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark; lgdchief@gmail.com tomas.marques@upf.edu tgilbert@sund.ku.dk nobuyuki.yamaguchi@umt.edu.my
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2020 May 19;117(20):10927-10934.
PMID: 32366643 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1919423117

Abstract

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 leo/Panthera 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.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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