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Widrig KE, Navalón G, Field DJ. Paleoneurology of stem palaeognaths clarifies the plesiomorphic condition of the crown bird central nervous system. J Morphol 2024; 285:e21710. [PMID: 38760949 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2024] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/20/2024]
Abstract
Lithornithidae, an assemblage of volant Palaeogene fossil birds, provide our clearest insights into the early evolutionary history of Palaeognathae, the clade that today includes the flightless ratites and volant tinamous. The neotype specimen of Lithornis vulturinus, from the early Eocene (approximately 53 million years ago) of Europe, includes a partial neurocranium that has never been thoroughly investigated. Here, we describe these cranial remains including the nearly complete digital endocasts of the brain and bony labyrinth. The telencephalon of Lithornis is expanded and its optic lobes are ventrally shifted, as is typical for crown birds. The foramen magnum is positioned caudally, rather than flexed ventrally as in some crown birds, with the optic lobes, cerebellum, and foramen magnum shifted further ventrally. The overall brain shape is similar to that of tinamous, the only extant clade of flying palaeognaths, suggesting that several aspects of tinamou neuroanatomy may have been evolutionarily conserved since at least the early Cenozoic. The estimated ratio of the optic lobe's surface area relative to the total brain suggests a diurnal ecology. Lithornis may provide the clearest insights to date into the neuroanatomy of the ancestral crown bird, combining an ancestrally unflexed brain with a caudally oriented connection with the spinal cord, a moderately enlarged telencephalon, and ventrally shifted, enlarged optic lobes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klara E Widrig
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Guillermo Navalón
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Daniel J Field
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Museum of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Fossil Reptiles, Amphibians and Birds Section, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
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2
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Sato K, Nakamura T, Morimatsu M, Agui T. Functional Analysis of Oligoadenylate Synthetase in the Emu ( Dromaius novaehollandiae). Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1579. [PMID: 38891626 PMCID: PMC11171313 DOI: 10.3390/ani14111579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2024] [Revised: 05/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) is one of the proteins that act as a defense mechanism against foreign RNA in cells. OAS has two functions: an antiviral effect against a wide range of virus species via the OAS/RNase L pathway with synthesized oligoadenylates and inhibition of viral replication specific to viruses of the genus Flavivirus, which is independent of enzymatic activity. Several birds have been reported to possess only one type of OAS family member, OASL, which has both enzymatic activity and inhibitory effects on flaviviral replication. However, the ostrich has two types of OASs, OAS1 and OASL, which show different functions-enzymatic and anti-flaviviral activities, respectively. In this study, emu OASs were cloned to investigate their sequence and function and elucidate the role of OASs in emus. The cloning results showed that emus had OAS1 and OASL, suggesting that emu OASs were more closely related to ostrich than to other birds. Functional investigations showed that emu OAS1 and OASL had enzymatic and anti-flaviviral activities, respectively, similar to those of the ostrich. Emus and ostriches are evolutionarily different from most birds and may be more closely related to mammalian OAS diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keisuke Sato
- Laboratory of Laboratory Animal Science and Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan; (T.N.); (M.M.); (T.A.)
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3
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Widrig KE, Bhullar BS, Field DJ. 3D atlas of tinamou (Neornithes: Tinamidae) pectoral morphology: Implications for reconstructing the ancestral neornithine flight apparatus. J Anat 2023; 243:729-757. [PMID: 37358291 PMCID: PMC10557402 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2023] [Revised: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Palaeognathae, the extant avian clade comprising the flightless ratites and flight-capable tinamous (Tinamidae), is the sister group to all other living birds, and recent phylogenetic studies illustrate that tinamous are phylogenetically nested within a paraphyletic assemblage of ratites. As the only extant palaeognaths that have retained the ability to fly, tinamous may provide key information on the nature of the flight apparatus of ancestral crown palaeognaths-and, in turn, crown birds-as well as insight into convergent modifications to the wing apparatus among extant ratite lineages. To reveal new information about the musculoskeletal anatomy of tinamous and facilitate development of computational biomechanical models of tinamou wing function, we generated a three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of the flight apparatus of the extant Andean tinamou (Nothoprocta pentlandii) using diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography (diceCT). Origins and insertions of the pectoral flight musculature of N. pentlandii are generally consistent with those of other extant volant birds specialized for burst flight, and the entire suite of presumed ancestral neornithine flight muscles are present in N. pentlandii with the exception of the biceps slip. The pectoralis and supracoracoideus muscles are robust, similar to the condition in other extant burst-flying birds such as many extant Galliformes. Contrary to the condition in most extant Neognathae (the sister clade to Palaeognathae), the insertion of the pronator superficialis has a greater distal extent than the pronator profundus, although most other anatomical observations are broadly consistent with the conditions observed in extant neognaths. This work will help form a basis for future comparative studies of the avian musculoskeletal system, with implications for reconstructing the flight apparatus of ancestral crown birds and clarifying musculoskeletal modifications underlying the convergent origins of ratite flightlessness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klara E. Widrig
- Department of Earth SciencesUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Bhart‐Anjan S. Bhullar
- Department of Earth and Planetary SciencesYale UniversityNew HavenConnecticutUSA
- Peabody Museum of Natural HistoryYale UniversityNew HavenConnecticutUSA
| | - Daniel J. Field
- Department of Earth SciencesUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- Museum of ZoologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
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4
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Molecular exploration of fossil eggshell uncovers hidden lineage of giant extinct bird. Nat Commun 2023; 14:914. [PMID: 36854679 PMCID: PMC9974994 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36405-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The systematics of Madagascar's extinct elephant birds remains controversial due to large gaps in the fossil record and poor biomolecular preservation of skeletal specimens. Here, a molecular analysis of 1000-year-old fossil eggshells provides the first description of elephant bird phylogeography and offers insight into the ecology and evolution of these flightless giants. Mitochondrial genomes from across Madagascar reveal genetic variation that is correlated with eggshell morphology, stable isotope composition, and geographic distribution. The elephant bird crown is dated to ca. 30 Mya, when Madagascar is estimated to have become less arid as it moved northward. High levels of between-clade genetic variation support reclassifying Mullerornis into a separate family. Low levels of within-clade genetic variation suggest there were only two elephant bird genera existing in southern Madagascar during the Holocene. However, we find an eggshell collection from Madagascar's far north that represents a unique lineage of Aepyornis. Furthermore, divergence within Aepyornis coincides with the aridification of Madagascar during the early Pleistocene ca. 1.5 Ma, and is consistent with the fragmentation of populations in the highlands driving diversification and the evolution of extreme gigantism over shorts timescales. We advocate for a revision of their taxonomy that integrates palaeogenomic and palaeoecological perspectives.
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5
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Choi S, Hauber ME, Legendre LJ, Kim NH, Lee YN, Varricchio DJ. Microstructural and crystallographic evolution of palaeognath (Aves) eggshells. eLife 2023; 12:e81092. [PMID: 36719067 PMCID: PMC9889092 DOI: 10.7554/elife.81092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The avian palaeognath phylogeny has been recently revised significantly due to the advancement of genome-wide comparative analyses and provides the opportunity to trace the evolution of the microstructure and crystallography of modern dinosaur eggshells. Here, eggshells of all major clades of Palaeognathae (including extinct taxa) and selected eggshells of Neognathae and non-avian dinosaurs are analysed with electron backscatter diffraction. Our results show the detailed microstructures and crystallographies of (previously) loosely categorized ostrich-, rhea-, and tinamou-style morphotypes of palaeognath eggshells. All rhea-style eggshell appears homologous, while respective ostrich-style and tinamou-style morphotypes are best interpreted as homoplastic morphologies (independently acquired). Ancestral state reconstruction and parsimony analysis additionally show that rhea-style eggshell represents the ancestral state of palaeognath eggshells both in microstructure and crystallography. The ornithological and palaeontological implications of the current study are not only helpful for the understanding of evolution of modern and extinct dinosaur eggshells, but also aid other disciplines where palaeognath eggshells provide useful archive for comparative contrasts (e.g. palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, geochronology, and zooarchaeology).
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Affiliation(s)
- Seung Choi
- Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State UniversityBozemanUnited States
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUrbanaUnited States
| | - Lucas J Legendre
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at AustinAustinUnited States
| | - Noe-Heon Kim
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton UniversityPrincetonUnited States
| | - Yuong-Nam Lee
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
| | - David J Varricchio
- Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State UniversityBozemanUnited States
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6
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Seersholm FV, Harmsen H, Gotfredsen AB, Madsen CK, Jensen JF, Hollesen J, Meldgaard M, Bunce M, Hansen AJ. Ancient DNA provides insights into 4,000 years of resource economy across Greenland. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:1723-1730. [PMID: 36203052 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01454-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The success and failure of past cultures across the Arctic was tightly coupled to the ability of past peoples to exploit the full range of resources available to them. There is substantial evidence for the hunting of birds, caribou and seals in prehistoric Greenland. However, the extent to which these communities relied on fish and cetaceans is understudied because of taphonomic processes that affect how these taxa are presented in the archaeological record. To address this, we analyse DNA from bulk bone samples from 12 archaeological middens across Greenland covering the Palaeo-Inuit, Norse and Neo-Inuit culture. We identify an assemblage of 42 species, including nine fish species and five whale species, of which the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) was the most commonly detected. Furthermore, we identify a new haplotype in caribou (Rangifer tarandus), suggesting the presence of a distinct lineage of (now extinct) dwarfed caribou in Greenland 3,000 years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederik V Seersholm
- Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
| | - Hans Harmsen
- Greenland National Museum and Archives, Nuuk, Greenland
| | | | | | - Jens F Jensen
- Modern History and World Cultures, National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jørgen Hollesen
- Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science, National Museum of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Morten Meldgaard
- Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Institute for Health and Nature, University of Greenland, Nuuk, Greenland
| | - Michael Bunce
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Anders J Hansen
- Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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7
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Ancient proteins resolve controversy over the identity of Genyornis eggshell. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2109326119. [PMID: 35609205 PMCID: PMC9995833 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2109326119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The realization that ancient biomolecules are preserved in "fossil" samples has revolutionized archaeological science. Protein sequences survive longer than DNA, but their phylogenetic resolution is inferior; therefore, careful assessment of the research questions is required. Here, we show the potential of ancient proteins preserved in Pleistocene eggshell in addressing a longstanding controversy in human and animal evolution: the identity of the extinct bird that laid large eggs which were exploited by Australia's indigenous people. The eggs had been originally attributed to the iconic extinct flightless bird Genyornis newtoni (†Dromornithidae, Galloanseres) and were subsequently dated to before 50 ± 5 ka by Miller et al. [Nat. Commun. 7, 10496 (2016)]. This was taken to represent the likely extinction date for this endemic megafaunal species and thus implied a role of humans in its demise. A contrasting hypothesis, according to which the eggs were laid by a large mound-builder megapode (Megapodiidae, Galliformes), would therefore acquit humans of their responsibility in the extinction of Genyornis. Ancient protein sequences were reconstructed and used to assess the evolutionary proximity of the undetermined eggshell to extant birds, rejecting the megapode hypothesis. Authentic ancient DNA could not be confirmed from these highly degraded samples, but morphometric data also support the attribution of the eggshell to Genyornis. When used in triangulation to address well-defined hypotheses, paleoproteomics is a powerful tool for reconstructing the evolutionary history in ancient samples. In addition to the clarification of phylogenetic placement, these data provide a more nuanced understanding of the modes of interactions between humans and their environment.
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8
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Westbury MV, De Cahsan B, Shepherd LD, Holdaway RN, Duchene DA, Lorenzen ED. Genomic insights into the evolutionary relationships and demographic history of kiwi. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0266430. [PMID: 36215252 PMCID: PMC9550048 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Kiwi are a unique and emblematic group of birds endemic to New Zealand. Deep-time evolutionary relationships among the five extant kiwi species have been difficult to resolve, in part due to the absence of pre-Quaternary fossils to inform speciation events. Here, we utilise single representative nuclear genomes of all five extant kiwi species (great spotted kiwi, little spotted kiwi, Okarito brown kiwi, North Island brown kiwi, and southern brown kiwi) and investigate their evolutionary histories with phylogenomic, genetic diversity, and deep-time (past million years) demographic analyses. We uncover relatively low levels of gene-tree phylogenetic discordance across the genomes, suggesting clear distinction between species. However, we also find indications of post-divergence gene flow, concordant with recent reports of interspecific hybrids. The four species for which unbiased levels of genetic diversity could be calculated, due to the availability of reference assemblies (all species except the southern brown kiwi), show relatively low levels of genetic diversity, which we suggest reflects a combination of older environmental as well as more recent anthropogenic influence. In addition, we suggest hypotheses regarding the impact of known past environmental events, such as volcanic eruptions and glacial periods, on the similarities and differences observed in the demographic histories of the five kiwi species over the past million years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael V. Westbury
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- * E-mail: (MVW); (EDL)
| | - Binia De Cahsan
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lara D. Shepherd
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Richard N. Holdaway
- Palaecol Research Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | | | - Eline D. Lorenzen
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- * E-mail: (MVW); (EDL)
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9
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Verry AJF, Lubbe P, Mitchell KJ, Rawlence NJ. Thirty years of ancient DNA and the faunal biogeography of Aotearoa New Zealand: lessons and future directions. J R Soc N Z 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/03036758.2022.2093227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander J. F. Verry
- Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Pascale Lubbe
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Kieren J. Mitchell
- Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Nicolas J. Rawlence
- Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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10
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Hansford JP, Turvey ST. Dietary isotopes of Madagascar's extinct megafauna reveal holocene browsing and grazing guilds. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20220094. [PMID: 35414222 PMCID: PMC9006009 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Megafauna play a disproportionate role in developing and maintaining their biomes, by regulating plant dispersal, community structure and nutrient cycling. Understanding the ecological roles of extinct megafaunal communities, for example through dietary reconstruction using isotope analysis, is necessary to determine pre-human states and set evidence-based restoration goals. We use δ13C and δ15N isotopic analyses to reconstruct Holocene feeding guilds in Madagascar's extinct megaherbivores, which included elephant birds, hippopotami and giant tortoises that occurred across multiple habitats and elevations. We compare isotopic data from seven taxa and two elephant bird eggshell morphotypes against contemporary regional floral baselines to infer dietary subsistence strategies. Most taxa show high consumption of C3 and/or CAM plants, providing evidence of widespread browsing ecology. However, Aepyornis hildebrandti, an elephant bird restricted to the central highlands region, has isotope values with much higher δ13C values than other taxa. This species is interpreted as having obtained up to 48% of its diet from C4 grasses. These findings provide new evidence for distinct browsing and grazing guilds in Madagascar's Holocene megaherbivore fauna, with implications for past regional distribution of ecosystems dominated by endemic C4 grasses.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Hansford
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK.,Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA.,School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Samuel T Turvey
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
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11
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Simmons MP, Springer MS, Gatesy J. Gene-tree misrooting drives conflicts in phylogenomic coalescent analyses of palaeognath birds. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 167:107344. [PMID: 34748873 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 10/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Phylogenomic analyses of ancient rapid radiations can produce conflicting results that are driven by differential sampling of taxa and characters as well as the limitations of alternative analytical methods. We re-examine basal relationships of palaeognath birds (ratites and tinamous) using recently published datasets of nucleotide characters from 20,850 loci as well as 4301 retroelement insertions. The original studies attributed conflicting resolutions of rheas in their inferred coalescent and concatenation trees to concatenation failing in the anomaly zone. By contrast, we find that the coalescent-based resolution of rheas is premised upon extensive gene-tree estimation errors. Furthermore, retroelement insertions contain much more conflict than originally reported and multiple insertion loci support the basal position of rheas found in concatenation trees, while none were reported in the original publication. We demonstrate how even remarkable congruence in phylogenomic studies may be driven by long-branch misplacement of a divergent outgroup, highly incongruent gene trees, differential taxon sampling that can result in gene-tree misrooting errors that bias species-tree inference, and gross homology errors. What was previously interpreted as broad, robustly supported corroboration for a single resolution in coalescent analyses may instead indicate a common bias that taints phylogenomic results across multiple genome-scale datasets. The updated retroelement dataset now supports a species tree with branch lengths that suggest an ancient anomaly zone, and both concatenation and coalescent analyses of the huge nucleotide datasets fail to yield coherent, reliable results in this challenging phylogenetic context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark P Simmons
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
| | - Mark S Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
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12
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Yen A, Wu HJ, Chen PY, Yu HT, Juang JY. Egg Incubation Mechanics of Giant Birds. BIOLOGY 2021; 10:biology10080738. [PMID: 34439970 PMCID: PMC8389601 DOI: 10.3390/biology10080738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to conduct mechanical analyses on eggshells of giant birds, and relate this to the evolution and reproductive behavior of avian species. We aim to (1) investigate mechanical characteristics of eggshell structures of various ratite species, enabling comparisons between species with or without reversed sexual size dimorphism (RSSD); (2) quantify the safety margin provided by RSSD; (3) determine whether the Williams' egg can have been incubated by an extinct giant bird Genyornis newtoni; (4) determine the theoretical maximum body mass for contact incubation. We use a dimensionless number C to quantify relative shell stiffness with respect to the egg size, allowing for comparison across wide body masses. We find that RSSD in moas significantly increases the safety margin of contact incubation by the lighter males. However, their safety margins are still smaller than those of the moa species without RSSD. Two different strategies were adopted by giant birds-one is RSSD and thinner shells, represented by some moa species; the other is no RSSD and regular shells, represented by the giant elephant bird. Finally, we predicted that the upper limit of body mass for contact incubation was 2000 kg.
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Affiliation(s)
- An Yen
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan; (A.Y.); (H.-J.W.); (P.-Y.C.)
| | - Hsiao-Jou Wu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan; (A.Y.); (H.-J.W.); (P.-Y.C.)
- Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan;
| | - Pin-Yi Chen
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan; (A.Y.); (H.-J.W.); (P.-Y.C.)
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Hon-Tsen Yu
- Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan;
- Degree Program of Genome and Systems Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Jia-Yang Juang
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan; (A.Y.); (H.-J.W.); (P.-Y.C.)
- Correspondence:
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13
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Ancient DNA from the koala lemur puts Madagascar on the paleogenomic map. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2110218118. [PMID: 34301878 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2110218118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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14
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Wang Z, Zhang J, Xu X, Witt C, Deng Y, Chen G, Meng G, Feng S, Xu L, Szekely T, Zhang G, Zhou Q. Phylogeny and sex chromosome evolution of palaeognathae. J Genet Genomics 2021; 49:109-119. [PMID: 34872841 DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2021.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Revised: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Many paleognaths (ratites and tinamous) have a pair of homomorphic ZW sex chromosomes in contrast to the highly differentiated sex chromosomes of most other birds. To understand the evolutionary causes for the different tempos of sex chromosome evolution, we produced female genomes of 12 paleognathous species and reconstructed the phylogeny and the evolutionary history of paleognathous sex chromosomes. We uncovered that Palaeognathae sex chromosomes had undergone stepwise recombination suppression and formed a pattern of "evolutionary strata". Nine of the 15 studied species' sex chromosomes have maintained homologous recombination in their long pseudoautosomal regions extending more than half of the entire chromosome length. We found that in older strata, the W chromosome suffered more serious functional gene loss. Their homologous Z-linked regions, compared with other genomic regions, have produced an excess of species-specific autosomal duplicated genes that evolved female-specific expression, in contrast to their broadly expressed progenitors. We speculate the "defeminization" of Z chromosome with underrepresentation of female-biased genes and slow divergence of sex chromosomes of paleognaths might be related to their distinctive mode of sexual selection targeting females that evolved in their common ancestors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zongji Wang
- MOE Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China; Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria; Institute of Animal Sex and Development, Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315100, China; BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Jilin Zhang
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Xiaoman Xu
- MOE Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Christopher Witt
- Department of Biology and the Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Yuan Deng
- BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Guangji Chen
- BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Guanliang Meng
- BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Shaohong Feng
- BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Luohao Xu
- Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
| | - Tamas Szekely
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Department of Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Milner Center for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA1 7AY, UK
| | - Guojie Zhang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Shenzhen 518083, China; State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China; Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China.
| | - Qi Zhou
- MOE Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China; Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria; Center for Reproductive Medicine, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310052, China.
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15
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Marciniak S, Mughal MR, Godfrey LR, Bankoff RJ, Randrianatoandro H, Crowley BE, Bergey CM, Muldoon KM, Randrianasy J, Raharivololona BM, Schuster SC, Malhi RS, Yoder AD, Louis EE, Kistler L, Perry GH. Evolutionary and phylogenetic insights from a nuclear genome sequence of the extinct, giant, "subfossil" koala lemur Megaladapis edwardsi. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2022117118. [PMID: 34162703 PMCID: PMC8255780 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2022117118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
No endemic Madagascar animal with body mass >10 kg survived a relatively recent wave of extinction on the island. From morphological and isotopic analyses of skeletal "subfossil" remains we can reconstruct some of the biology and behavioral ecology of giant lemurs (primates; up to ∼160 kg) and other extraordinary Malagasy megafauna that survived into the past millennium. Yet, much about the evolutionary biology of these now-extinct species remains unknown, along with persistent phylogenetic uncertainty in some cases. Thankfully, despite the challenges of DNA preservation in tropical and subtropical environments, technical advances have enabled the recovery of ancient DNA from some Malagasy subfossil specimens. Here, we present a nuclear genome sequence (∼2× coverage) for one of the largest extinct lemurs, the koala lemur Megaladapis edwardsi (∼85 kg). To support the testing of key phylogenetic and evolutionary hypotheses, we also generated high-coverage nuclear genomes for two extant lemurs, Eulemur rufifrons and Lepilemur mustelinus, and we aligned these sequences with previously published genomes for three other extant lemurs and 47 nonlemur vertebrates. Our phylogenetic results confirm that Megaladapis is most closely related to the extant Lemuridae (typified in our analysis by E. rufifrons) to the exclusion of L. mustelinus, which contradicts morphology-based phylogenies. Our evolutionary analyses identified significant convergent evolution between M. edwardsi and an extant folivore (a colobine monkey) and an herbivore (horse) in genes encoding proteins that function in plant toxin biodegradation and nutrient absorption. These results suggest that koala lemurs were highly adapted to a leaf-based diet, which may also explain their convergent craniodental morphology with the small-bodied folivore Lepilemur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Marciniak
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
| | - Mehreen R Mughal
- Bioinformatics and Genomics Intercollege Graduate Program, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16082
| | - Laurie R Godfrey
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
| | - Richard J Bankoff
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
| | - Heritiana Randrianatoandro
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Mention Anthropobiologie et Développement Durable, Faculté des Sciences, Université d'Antananarivo, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
| | - Brooke E Crowley
- Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45220
- Department of Anthropology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45220
| | - Christina M Bergey
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Department of Genetics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08854
| | | | - Jeannot Randrianasy
- Mention Anthropobiologie et Développement Durable, Faculté des Sciences, Université d'Antananarivo, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
| | - Brigitte M Raharivololona
- Mention Anthropobiologie et Développement Durable, Faculté des Sciences, Université d'Antananarivo, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
| | - Stephan C Schuster
- Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798
| | - Ripan S Malhi
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
| | - Anne D Yoder
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Edward E Louis
- Department of Conservation Genetics, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Omaha, NE 68107;
| | - Logan Kistler
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560;
| | - George H Perry
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802;
- Bioinformatics and Genomics Intercollege Graduate Program, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16082
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
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16
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Cui R, Tyers AM, Malubhoy ZJ, Wisotsky S, Valdesalici S, Henriette E, Kosakovsky Pond SL, Valenzano DR. Ancestral transoceanic colonization and recent population reduction in a nonannual killifish from the Seychelles archipelago. Mol Ecol 2021; 30:3610-3623. [PMID: 33998095 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Whether freshwater fish colonize remote islands following tectonic or transoceanic dispersal remains an evolutionary puzzle. Integrating dating of known tectonic events with phylogenomics and current species distribution, we find that killifish species distribution is not explained by species dispersal by tectonic drift only. Investigating the colonization of a nonannual killifish (golden panchax, Pachypanchax playfairii) on the Seychelle islands, we found genetic support for transoceanic dispersal and experimentally discovered an adaptation to complete tolerance to seawater. At the macroevolutionary scale, despite their long-lasting isolation, nonannual golden panchax show stronger genome-wide purifying selection than annual killifishes from continental Africa. However, progressive decline in effective population size over a more recent timescale has probably led to the segregation of slightly deleterious mutations across golden panchax populations, which represents a potential threat for species preservation in the long term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongfeng Cui
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany.,School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | | | | | - Sadie Wisotsky
- Department of Biology, Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine, Temple University, Temple, CA, USA
| | | | - Elvina Henriette
- Island Biodiversity Conservation Centre, University of Seychelles, Anse Royale, Mahe, Seychelles
| | - Sergei L Kosakovsky Pond
- Department of Biology, Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine, Temple University, Temple, CA, USA
| | - Dario Riccardo Valenzano
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany.,CECAD, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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17
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Hekkala E, Gatesy J, Narechania A, Meredith R, Russello M, Aardema ML, Jensen E, Montanari S, Brochu C, Norell M, Amato G. Paleogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of the extinct Holocene "horned" crocodile of Madagascar, Voay robustus. Commun Biol 2021; 4:505. [PMID: 33907305 PMCID: PMC8079395 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02017-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Ancient DNA is transforming our ability to reconstruct historical patterns and mechanisms shaping modern diversity and distributions. In particular, molecular data from extinct Holocene island faunas have revealed surprising biogeographic scenarios. Here, we recovered partial mitochondrial (mt) genomes for 1300-1400 year old specimens (n = 2) of the extinct "horned" crocodile, Voay robustus, collected from Holocene deposits in southwestern Madagascar. Phylogenetic analyses of partial mt genomes and tip-dated timetrees based on molecular, fossil, and stratigraphic data favor a sister group relationship between Voay and Crocodylus (true crocodiles). These well supported trees conflict with recent morphological systematic work that has consistently placed Voay within Osteolaeminae (dwarf crocodiles and kin) and provide evidence for likely homoplasy in crocodylian cranial anatomy and snout shape. The close relationship between Voay and Crocodylus lends additional context for understanding the biogeographic origins of these genera and refines competing hypotheses for the recent extinction of Voay from Madagascar.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Hekkala
- Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA.
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
| | - J Gatesy
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - A Narechania
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - R Meredith
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
- Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA
| | - M Russello
- University of British Columbia, Department of Biology, Kelowna, BC, Canada
| | - M L Aardema
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
- Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA
| | - E Jensen
- University of British Columbia, Department of Biology, Kelowna, BC, Canada
- Newcastle University, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Ecology Group, Newcastle, UK
| | - S Montanari
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - C Brochu
- University of Iowa, Department of Geosciences, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - M Norell
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - G Amato
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
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18
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Urantówka AD, Kroczak A, Mackiewicz P. New view on the organization and evolution of Palaeognathae mitogenomes poses the question on the ancestral gene rearrangement in Aves. BMC Genomics 2020; 21:874. [PMID: 33287726 PMCID: PMC7720580 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-07284-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bird mitogenomes differ from other vertebrates in gene rearrangement. The most common avian gene order, identified first in Gallus gallus, is considered ancestral for all Aves. However, other rearrangements including a duplicated control region and neighboring genes have been reported in many representatives of avian orders. The repeated regions can be easily overlooked due to inappropriate DNA amplification or genome sequencing. This raises a question about the actual prevalence of mitogenomic duplications and the validity of the current view on the avian mitogenome evolution. In this context, Palaeognathae is especially interesting because is sister to all other living birds, i.e. Neognathae. So far, a unique duplicated region has been found in one palaeognath mitogenome, that of Eudromia elegans. RESULTS Therefore, we applied an appropriate PCR strategy to look for omitted duplications in other palaeognaths. The analyses revealed the duplicated control regions with adjacent genes in Crypturellus, Rhea and Struthio as well as ND6 pseudogene in three moas. The copies are very similar and were subjected to concerted evolution. Mapping the presence and absence of duplication onto the Palaeognathae phylogeny indicates that the duplication was an ancestral state for this avian group. This feature was inherited by early diverged lineages and lost two times in others. Comparison of incongruent phylogenetic trees based on mitochondrial and nuclear sequences showed that two variants of mitogenomes could exist in the evolution of palaeognaths. Data collected for other avian mitogenomes revealed that the last common ancestor of all birds and early diverging lineages of Neoaves could also possess the mitogenomic duplication. CONCLUSIONS The duplicated control regions with adjacent genes are more common in avian mitochondrial genomes than it was previously thought. These two regions could increase effectiveness of replication and transcription as well as the number of replicating mitogenomes per organelle. In consequence, energy production by mitochondria may be also more efficient. However, further physiological and molecular analyses are necessary to assess the potential selective advantages of the mitogenome duplications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Dawid Urantówka
- Department of Genetics, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 7 Kozuchowska Street, 51-631 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Kroczak
- Department of Genetics, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 7 Kozuchowska Street, 51-631 Wroclaw, Poland
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, 14a Fryderyka Joliot-Curie Street, 50-383 Wrocław, Poland
| | - Paweł Mackiewicz
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, 14a Fryderyka Joliot-Curie Street, 50-383 Wrocław, Poland
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19
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Garrett Vieira F, Samaniego Castruita JA, Gilbert MTP. Using in silico predicted ancestral genomes to improve the efficiency of paleogenome reconstruction. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:12700-12709. [PMID: 33304488 PMCID: PMC7713980 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Revised: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Paleogenomics is the nascent discipline concerned with sequencing and analysis of genome-scale information from historic, ancient, and even extinct samples. While once inconceivable due to the challenges of DNA damage, contamination, and the technical limitations of PCR-based Sanger sequencing, following the dawn of the second-generation sequencing revolution, it has rapidly become a reality. However, a significant challenge facing ancient DNA studies on extinct species is the lack of closely related reference genomes against which to map the sequencing reads from ancient samples. Although bioinformatic efforts to improve the assemblies have focused mainly in mapping algorithms, in this article we explore the potential of an alternative approach, namely using reconstructed ancestral genome as reference for mapping DNA sequences of ancient samples. Specifically, we present a preliminary proof of concept for a general framework and demonstrate how under certain evolutionary divergence thresholds, considerable mapping improvements can be easily obtained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipe Garrett Vieira
- Section for Evolutionary GenomicsThe GLOBE InstituteFaculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - José Alfredo Samaniego Castruita
- Section for Evolutionary GenomicsThe GLOBE InstituteFaculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - M. Thomas P. Gilbert
- Section for Evolutionary GenomicsThe GLOBE InstituteFaculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
- University MuseumNorwegian University of Science and TechnologyTrondheimNorway
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20
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De Cahsan B, Westbury MV. Complete mitochondrial genomes offer insights into the evolutionary relationships and comparative genetic diversity of New Zealand’s iconic kiwi (Apteryx spp.). NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/03014223.2020.1766520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Binia De Cahsan
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Michael V. Westbury
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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21
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The phylogenetic significance of the morphology of the syrinx, hyoid and larynx, of the southern cassowary, Casuarius casuarius (Aves, Palaeognathae). BMC Evol Biol 2019; 19:233. [PMID: 31881941 PMCID: PMC6935130 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-019-1544-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Palaeognathae is a basal clade within Aves and include the large and flightless ratites and the smaller, volant tinamous. Although much research has been conducted on various aspects of palaeognath morphology, ecology, and evolutionary history, there are still areas which require investigation. This study aimed to fill gaps in our knowledge of the Southern Cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, for which information on the skeletal systems of the syrinx, hyoid and larynx is lacking - despite these structures having been recognised as performing key functional roles associated with vocalisation, respiration and feeding. Previous research into the syrinx and hyoid have also indicated these structures to be valuable for determining evolutionary relationships among neognath taxa, and thus suggest they would also be informative for palaeognath phylogenetic analyses, which still exhibits strong conflict between morphological and molecular trees. RESULTS The morphology of the syrinx, hyoid and larynx of C. casuarius is described from CT scans. The syrinx is of the simple tracheo-bronchial syrinx type, lacking specialised elements such as the pessulus; the hyoid is relatively short with longer ceratobranchials compared to epibranchials; and the larynx is comprised of entirely cartilaginous, standard avian anatomical elements including a concave, basin-like cricoid and fused cricoid wings. As in the larynx, both the syrinx and hyoid lack ossification and all three structures were most similar to Dromaius. We documented substantial variation across palaeognaths in the skeletal character states of the syrinx, hyoid, and larynx, using both the literature and novel observations (e.g. of C. casuarius). Notably, new synapomorphies linking Dinornithiformes and Tinamidae are identified, consistent with the molecular evidence for this clade. These shared morphological character traits include the ossification of the cricoid and arytenoid cartilages, and an additional cranial character, the articulation between the maxillary process of the nasal and the maxilla. CONCLUSION Syrinx, hyoid and larynx characters of palaeognaths display greater concordance with molecular trees than do other morphological traits. These structures might therefore be less prone to homoplasy related to flightlessness and gigantism, compared to typical morphological traits emphasised in previous phylogenetic studies.
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Cloutier A, Sackton TB, Grayson P, Clamp M, Baker AJ, Edwards SV. Whole-Genome Analyses Resolve the Phylogeny of Flightless Birds (Palaeognathae) in the Presence of an Empirical Anomaly Zone. Syst Biol 2019; 68:937-955. [PMID: 31135914 PMCID: PMC6857515 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syz019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Revised: 03/06/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Palaeognathae represent one of the two basal lineages in modern birds, and comprise the volant (flighted) tinamous and the flightless ratites. Resolving palaeognath phylogenetic relationships has historically proved difficult, and short internal branches separating major palaeognath lineages in previous molecular phylogenies suggest that extensive incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) might have accompanied a rapid ancient divergence. Here, we investigate palaeognath relationships using genome-wide data sets of three types of noncoding nuclear markers, together totaling 20,850 loci and over 41 million base pairs of aligned sequence data. We recover a fully resolved topology placing rheas as the sister to kiwi and emu + cassowary that is congruent across marker types for two species tree methods (MP-EST and ASTRAL-II). This topology is corroborated by patterns of insertions for 4274 CR1 retroelements identified from multispecies whole-genome screening, and is robustly supported by phylogenomic subsampling analyses, with MP-EST demonstrating particularly consistent performance across subsampling replicates as compared to ASTRAL. In contrast, analyses of concatenated data supermatrices recover rheas as the sister to all other nonostrich palaeognaths, an alternative that lacks retroelement support and shows inconsistent behavior under subsampling approaches. While statistically supporting the species tree topology, conflicting patterns of retroelement insertions also occur and imply high amounts of ILS across short successive internal branches, consistent with observed patterns of gene tree heterogeneity. Coalescent simulations and topology tests indicate that the majority of observed topological incongruence among gene trees is consistent with coalescent variation rather than arising from gene tree estimation error alone, and estimated branch lengths for short successive internodes in the inferred species tree fall within the theoretical range encompassing the anomaly zone. Distributions of empirical gene trees confirm that the most common gene tree topology for each marker type differs from the species tree, signifying the existence of an empirical anomaly zone in palaeognaths.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison Cloutier
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Department of Ornithology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Timothy B Sackton
- Informatics Group, Harvard University, 28 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Phil Grayson
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Department of Ornithology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Michele Clamp
- Informatics Group, Harvard University, 28 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Allan J Baker
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcox Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada
- Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada
| | - Scott V Edwards
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Department of Ornithology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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23
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Grealy A, Bunce M, Holleley CE. Avian mitochondrial genomes retrieved from museum eggshell. Mol Ecol Resour 2019; 19:1052-1062. [DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2018] [Revised: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Grealy
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, Department of Environment and Agriculture Curtin University Bentley Western Australia Australia
- Australian National Wildlife Collection, National Research Collections Australia CSIRO Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia
| | - Michael Bunce
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, Department of Environment and Agriculture Curtin University Bentley Western Australia Australia
| | - Clare E Holleley
- Australian National Wildlife Collection, National Research Collections Australia CSIRO Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia
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24
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Sackton TB, Grayson P, Cloutier A, Hu Z, Liu JS, Wheeler NE, Gardner PP, Clarke JA, Baker AJ, Clamp M, Edwards SV. Convergent regulatory evolution and loss of flight in paleognathous birds. Science 2019; 364:74-78. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aat7244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2018] [Accepted: 02/27/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
A core question in evolutionary biology is whether convergent phenotypic evolution is driven by convergent molecular changes in proteins or regulatory regions. We combined phylogenomic, developmental, and epigenomic analysis of 11 new genomes of paleognathous birds, including an extinct moa, to show that convergent evolution of regulatory regions, more so than protein-coding genes, is prevalent among developmental pathways associated with independent losses of flight. A Bayesian analysis of 284,001 conserved noncoding elements, 60,665 of which are corroborated as enhancers by open chromatin states during development, identified 2355 independent accelerations along lineages of flightless paleognaths, with functional consequences for driving gene expression in the developing forelimb. Our results suggest that the genomic landscape associated with morphological convergence in ratites has a substantial shared regulatory component.
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25
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Wallis GP, Jorge F. Going under down under? Lineage ages argue for extensive survival of the Oligocene marine transgression on Zealandia. Mol Ecol 2018; 27:4368-4396. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.14875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2018] [Revised: 09/08/2018] [Accepted: 09/10/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Fátima Jorge
- Department of Zoology; University of Otago; Dunedin New Zealand
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26
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Hansford J, Wright PC, Rasoamiaramanana A, Pérez VR, Godfrey LR, Errickson D, Thompson T, Turvey ST. Early Holocene human presence in Madagascar evidenced by exploitation of avian megafauna. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaat6925. [PMID: 30214938 PMCID: PMC6135541 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat6925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2018] [Accepted: 08/06/2018] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Previous research suggests that people first arrived on Madagascar by ~2500 years before present (years B.P.). This hypothesis is consistent with butchery marks on extinct lemur bones from ~2400 years B.P. and perhaps with archaeological evidence of human presence from ~4000 years B.P. We report >10,500-year-old human-modified bones for the extinct elephant birds Aepyornis and Mullerornis, which show perimortem chop marks, cut marks, and depression fractures consistent with immobilization and dismemberment. Our evidence for anthropogenic perimortem modification of directly dated bones represents the earliest indication of humans in Madagascar, predating all other archaeological and genetic evidence by >6000 years and changing our understanding of the history of human colonization of Madagascar. This revision of Madagascar's prehistory suggests prolonged human-faunal coexistence with limited biodiversity loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Hansford
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
- Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
- Corresponding author.
| | - Patricia C. Wright
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
- Centre ValBio, Ranomafana, Ifanadiana 312, Madagascar
| | - Armand Rasoamiaramanana
- Mention Bassins Sédimentaires Evolution Conservation, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Ventura R. Pérez
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, 240 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Laurie R. Godfrey
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, 240 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - David Errickson
- School of Science, Engineering and Design, Teesside University, Borough Road, Middlesbrough TS1 3BA, UK
| | - Tim Thompson
- School of Science, Engineering and Design, Teesside University, Borough Road, Middlesbrough TS1 3BA, UK
| | - Samuel T. Turvey
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
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Hansford JP, Turvey ST. Unexpected diversity within the extinct elephant birds (Aves: Aepyornithidae) and a new identity for the world's largest bird. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:181295. [PMID: 30839722 PMCID: PMC6170582 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 08/31/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Madagascar's now-extinct radiation of large-bodied ratites, the elephant birds (Aepyornithidae), has been subject to little modern research compared to the island's mammalian megafauna and other Late Quaternary giant birds. The family's convoluted and conflicting taxonomic history has hindered accurate interpretation of morphological diversity and has restricted modern research into their evolutionary history, biogeography and ecology. We present a new quantitative analysis of patterns of morphological diversity of aepyornithid skeletal elements, including material from all major global collections of aepyornithid skeletal remains, and constituting the first taxonomic reassessment of the family for over 50 years. Linear morphometric data collected from appendicular limb elements, and including nearly all type specimens, were examined using multivariate cluster analysis and the Bayesian information criterion, and with estimation of missing data using multiple imputation and expectation maximization algorithms. These analyses recover three distinct skeletal morphotypes within the Aepyornithidae. Two of these morphotypes are associated with the type specimens of the existing genera Mullerornis and Aepyornis, and represent small-bodied and medium-bodied aepyornithids, respectively. Aepyornis contains two distinct morphometric subgroups, which are identified as the largely allopatric species A. hildebrandti and A. maximus. The third morphotype, which has not previously been recognized as a distinct genus, is described as the novel taxon Vorombe titan. Vorombe represents the largest-bodied aepyornithid and is the world's largest bird, with a mean body mass of almost 650 kg. This new taxonomic framework for the Aepyornithidae provides an important new baseline for future studies of avian evolution and the Quaternary ecology of Madagascar.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P. Hansford
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
- Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
| | - Samuel T. Turvey
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
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Phillips MJ, Fruciano C. The soft explosive model of placental mammal evolution. BMC Evol Biol 2018; 18:104. [PMID: 29969980 PMCID: PMC6029115 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-018-1218-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2017] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent molecular dating estimates for placental mammals echo fossil inferences for an explosive interordinal diversification, but typically place this event some 10-20 million years earlier than the Paleocene fossils, among apparently more "primitive" mammal faunas. RESULTS However, current models of molecular evolution do not adequately account for parallel rate changes, and result in dramatic divergence underestimates for large, long-lived mammals such as whales and hominids. Calibrating among these taxa shifts the rate model errors deeper in the tree, inflating interordinal divergence estimates. We employ simulations based on empirical rate variation, which show that this "error-shift inflation" can explain previous molecular dating overestimates relative to fossil inferences. Molecular dating accuracy is substantially improved in the simulations by focusing on calibrations for taxa that retain plesiomorphic life-history characteristics. Applying this strategy to the empirical data favours the soft explosive model of placental evolution, in line with traditional palaeontological interpretations - a few Cretaceous placental lineages give rise to a rapid interordinal diversification following the 66 Ma Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary mass extinction. CONCLUSIONS Our soft explosive model for the diversification of placental mammals brings into agreement previously incongruous molecular, fossil, and ancestral life history estimates, and closely aligns with a growing consensus for a similar model for bird evolution. We show that recent criticism of the soft explosive model relies on ignoring both experimental controls and statistical confidence, as well as misrepresentation, and inconsistent interpretations of morphological phylogeny. More generally, we suggest that the evolutionary properties of adaptive radiations may leave current molecular dating methods susceptible to overestimating the timing of major diversification events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J. Phillips
- School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Carmelo Fruciano
- School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
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Montanari S. Cracking the egg: the use of modern and fossil eggs for ecological, environmental and biological interpretation. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:180006. [PMID: 30110435 PMCID: PMC6030333 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.180006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2018] [Accepted: 05/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
A myriad of extant and extinct vertebrates produce eggs. Eggs and eggshells provide a useful substrate for reconstructing environment, ecology and biology over a range of time scales from deep time to the present. In this review, methods for analysing and understanding records of diet, climate, environment and biology preserved in eggshells are presented. Topics covered include eggshell structure, assessing diagenesis, stable isotope geochemistry and morphological investigations of eggshell characteristics. This review emphasizes the use of eggshells in the modern and fossil record, as they allow for interpretation of characteristics of a wide variety of amniotes across geological history, uniquely informing environmental and ecological investigations.
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Faux C, Field DJ. Distinct developmental pathways underlie independent losses of flight in ratites. Biol Lett 2017; 13:rsbl.2017.0234. [PMID: 28679696 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2017] [Accepted: 05/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent phylogenetic studies question the monophyly of ratites (large, flightless birds incorporating ostriches, rheas, kiwis, emus and cassowaries), suggesting their paraphyly with respect to flying tinamous (Tinamidae). Flightlessness and large body size have thus likely evolved repeatedly among ratites, and separately in ostriches (Struthio) and emus (Dromaius). Here, we test this hypothesis with data from wing developmental trajectories in ostriches, emus, tinamous and chickens. We find the rate of ostrich embryonic wing growth falls within the range of variation exhibited by flying taxa (tinamous and chickens), but that of emus is extremely slow. These results indicate flightlessness was acquired by different developmental mechanisms in the ancestors of ostriches (peramorphosis) and the emu-cassowary clade (paedomorphosis), and corroborate the hypothesis that flight loss has evolved repeatedly among ratites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cynthia Faux
- Department of Integrated Physiology and Neurosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA .,Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, 210 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Daniel J Field
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, 210 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511, USA .,Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
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Worthy TH, Degrange FJ, Handley WD, Lee MSY. The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres). ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:170975. [PMID: 29134094 PMCID: PMC5666277 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2017] [Accepted: 09/08/2017] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
The extinct dromornithids, gastornithids and phorusrhacids are among the most spectacular birds to have ever lived, with some giants exceeding 500 kg. The affinities and evolution of these and other related extinct birds remain contentious, with previous phylogenetic analyses being affected by widespread convergence and limited taxon sampling. We address these problems using both parsimony and tip-dated Bayesian approaches on an expansive taxon set that includes all key extinct flightless and flighted (e.g. Vegavis and lithornithids) forms, an extensive array of extant fowl (Galloanseres), representative Neoaves and palaeognaths. The Paleogene volant Lithornithidae are recovered as stem palaeognaths in the Bayesian analyses. The Galloanseres comprise four clades inferred to have diverged in the Late Cretaceous on Gondwana. In addition to Anseriformes and Galliformes, we recognize a robust new clade (Gastornithiformes) for the giant flightless Dromornithidae (Australia) and Gastornithidae (Eurasia, North America). This clade exhibits parallels to ratite palaeognaths in that flight presumably was lost and giant size attained multiple times. A fourth clade is represented by the Cretaceous Vegavis (Antarctica), which was strongly excluded from Anseriformes; thus, a crucial molecular calibration point needs to be reconsidered. The presbyornithids Wilaru (Australia) and Presbyornis (Northern Hemisphere) are robustly found to be the sister group to Anatoidea (Anseranatidae + Anatidae), a relatively more basal position than hitherto recognized. South America's largest bird, Brontornis, is not a galloansere, but a member of Neoaves related to Cariamiformes; therefore, giant Galloanseres remain unknown from this continent. Trait analyses showed that while gigantism and flightlessness evolved repeatedly in groups, diet is constrained by phylogeny: all giant Galloanseres and palaeognaths are herbivores or mainly herbivorous, and giant neoavians are zoophagous or omnivorous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor H. Worthy
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Federico J. Degrange
- Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra (CICTERRA), UNC, CONICET, Av. Vélez Sársfield 1611, X5016GCA, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Warren D. Handley
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Michael S. Y. Lee
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Earth Sciences Section, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
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Time to Spread Your Wings: A Review of the Avian Ancient DNA Field. Genes (Basel) 2017; 8:genes8070184. [PMID: 28718817 PMCID: PMC5541317 DOI: 10.3390/genes8070184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Revised: 06/27/2017] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Ancient DNA (aDNA) has the ability to inform the evolutionary history of both extant and extinct taxa; however, the use of aDNA in the study of avian evolution is lacking in comparison to other vertebrates, despite birds being one of the most species-rich vertebrate classes. Here, we review the field of “avian ancient DNA” by summarising the past three decades of literature on this topic. Most studies over this time have used avian aDNA to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships and clarify taxonomy based on the sequencing of a few mitochondrial loci, but recent studies are moving toward using a comparative genomics approach to address developmental and functional questions. Applying aDNA analysis with more practical outcomes in mind (such as managing conservation) is another increasingly popular trend among studies that utilise avian aDNA, but the majority of these have yet to influence management policy. We find that while there have been advances in extracting aDNA from a variety of avian substrates including eggshell, feathers, and coprolites, there is a bias in the temporal focus; the majority of the ca. 150 studies reviewed here obtained aDNA from late Holocene (100–1000 yBP) material, with few studies investigating Pleistocene-aged material. In addition, we identify and discuss several other issues within the field that require future attention. With more than one quarter of Holocene bird extinctions occurring in the last several hundred years, it is more important than ever to understand the mechanisms driving the evolution and extinction of bird species through the use of aDNA.
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Green EJ, Speller CF. Novel Substrates as Sources of Ancient DNA: Prospects and Hurdles. Genes (Basel) 2017; 8:E180. [PMID: 28703741 PMCID: PMC5541313 DOI: 10.3390/genes8070180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Revised: 06/22/2017] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Following the discovery in the late 1980s that hard tissues such as bones and teeth preserve genetic information, the field of ancient DNA analysis has typically concentrated upon these substrates. The onset of high-throughput sequencing, combined with optimized DNA recovery methods, has enabled the analysis of a myriad of ancient species and specimens worldwide, dating back to the Middle Pleistocene. Despite the growing sophistication of analytical techniques, the genetic analysis of substrates other than bone and dentine remain comparatively "novel". Here, we review analyses of other biological substrates which offer great potential for elucidating phylogenetic relationships, paleoenvironments, and microbial ecosystems including (1) archaeological artifacts and ecofacts; (2) calcified and/or mineralized biological deposits; and (3) biological and cultural archives. We conclude that there is a pressing need for more refined models of DNA preservation and bespoke tools for DNA extraction and analysis to authenticate and maximize the utility of the data obtained. With such tools in place the potential for neglected or underexploited substrates to provide a unique insight into phylogenetics, microbial evolution and evolutionary processes will be realized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor Joan Green
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, UK.
| | - Camilla F Speller
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, UK.
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