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Armstrong E, Tallavaara M, Hopcroft PO, Valdes PJ. North African humid periods over the past 800,000 years. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5549. [PMID: 37684244 PMCID: PMC10491769 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41219-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The Sahara region has experienced periodic wet periods over the Quaternary and beyond. These North African Humid Periods (NAHPs) are astronomically paced by precession which controls the intensity of the African monsoon system. However, most climate models cannot reconcile the magnitude of these events and so the driving mechanisms remain poorly constrained. Here, we utilise a recently developed version of the HadCM3B coupled climate model that simulates 20 NAHPs over the past 800 kyr which have good agreement with NAHPs identified in proxy data. Our results show that precession determines NAHP pacing, but we identify that their amplitude is strongly linked to eccentricity via its control over ice sheet extent. During glacial periods, enhanced ice-albedo driven cooling suppresses NAHP amplitude at precession minima, when humid conditions would otherwise be expected. This highlights the importance of both precession and eccentricity, and the role of high latitude processes in determining the timing and amplitude of the NAHPs. This may have implications for the out of Africa dispersal of plants and animals throughout the Quaternary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward Armstrong
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Miikka Tallavaara
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Peter O Hopcroft
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Paul J Valdes
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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2
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L Rocha J, Silva P, Santos N, Nakamura M, Afonso S, Qninba A, Boratynski Z, Sudmant PH, Brito JC, Nielsen R, Godinho R. North African fox genomes show signatures of repeated introgression and adaptation to life in deserts. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:1267-1286. [PMID: 37308700 PMCID: PMC10527534 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02094-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Elucidating the evolutionary process of animal adaptation to deserts is key to understanding adaptive responses to climate change. Here we generated 82 individual whole genomes of four fox species (genus Vulpes) inhabiting the Sahara Desert at different evolutionary times. We show that adaptation of new colonizing species to a hot arid environment has probably been facilitated by introgression and trans-species polymorphisms shared with older desert resident species, including a putatively adaptive 25 Mb genomic region. Scans for signatures of selection implicated genes affecting temperature perception, non-renal water loss and heat production in the recent adaptation of North African red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), after divergence from Eurasian populations approximately 78 thousand years ago. In the extreme desert specialists, Rueppell's fox (V. rueppellii) and fennec (V. zerda), we identified repeated signatures of selection in genes affecting renal water homeostasis supported by gene expression and physiological differences. Our study provides insights into the mechanisms and genetic underpinnings of a natural experiment of repeated adaptation to extreme conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana L Rocha
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal.
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal.
- Department of Integrative Biology and Department of Statistics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Pedro Silva
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Nuno Santos
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Mónia Nakamura
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Sandra Afonso
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Abdeljebbar Qninba
- Laboratory of Geophysics and Natural Hazards, Geophysics, Natural Patrimony and Green Chemistry Research Center (GEOPAC), Institut Scientifique, Mohammed V University of Rabat, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Zbyszek Boratynski
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Peter H Sudmant
- Department of Integrative Biology and Department of Statistics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Center for Computational Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - José C Brito
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Rasmus Nielsen
- Department of Integrative Biology and Department of Statistics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Center for Computational Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Raquel Godinho
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal.
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal.
- Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa.
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Ait Brahim Y, Sha L, Wassenburg JA, Azennoud K, Cheng H, Cruz FW, Bouchaou L. The spatiotemporal extent of the Green Sahara during the last glacial period. iScience 2023; 26:107018. [PMID: 37416475 PMCID: PMC10320408 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 03/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The Sahara Desert, one of today's most inhospitable environments, has known periods of enhanced precipitation that supported pre-historic humans. However, the Green Sahara timing and moisture sources are not well known due to limited paleoclimate information. Here, we present a multi-proxy (δ18O, δ13C, Δ17O, and trace elements) speleothem-based climate record from Northwest (NW) Africa. Our data document two Green Sahara periods during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a and the Early to Mid-Holocene. Consistency with paleoclimate records across North Africa highlights the east-west geographical extent of the Green Sahara, whereas millennial-scale North Atlantic cooling (Heinrich) events consistently resulted in drier conditions. We demonstrate that an increase in westerly-originating winter precipitation during MIS5a resulted in favorable environmental conditions. The comparison of paleoclimate data with local archaeological sequences highlights the abrupt climate deterioration and the decline in human density in NW Africa during the MIS5-4 transition, which suggests climate-forced dispersals of populations, with possible implications for pathways into Eurasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yassine Ait Brahim
- International Water Research Institute, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguerir, Morocco
| | - Lijuan Sha
- Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong Uniersity, Xi’an, China
| | - Jasper A. Wassenburg
- Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science, Busan, 46241, Republic of Korea
- Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Khalil Azennoud
- International Water Research Institute, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguerir, Morocco
| | - Hai Cheng
- Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong Uniersity, Xi’an, China
| | - Francisco W. Cruz
- Instituto de Geociências, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Lhoussaine Bouchaou
- International Water Research Institute, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguerir, Morocco
- Laboratory of Applied Geology and Geo-Environmental, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco
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Machado L, Harris DJ, Salvi D. Biogeographic and demographic history of the Mediterranean snakes Malpolon monspessulanus and Hemorrhois hippocrepis across the Strait of Gibraltar. BMC Ecol Evol 2021; 21:210. [PMID: 34809580 PMCID: PMC8609814 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-021-01941-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The contribution of North Africa to the assembly of biodiversity within the Western Palaearctic is still poorly documented. Since the Miocene, multiple biotic exchanges occurred across the Strait of Gibraltar, underlying the high biogeographic affinity between the western European and African sides of the Mediterranean basin. We investigated the biogeographic and demographic dynamics of two large Mediterranean-adapted snakes across the Strait and assess their relevance to the origin and diversity patterns of current European and North African populations. RESULTS We inferred phylogeographic patterns and demographic history of M. monspessulanus and H. hippocrepis, based on range-wide multilocus data, combined with fossil data and species distribution modelling, under present and past bioclimatic envelopes. For both species we identified endemic lineages in the High Atlas Mountains (Morocco) and in eastern Iberia, suggesting their persistence in Europe during the Pleistocene. One lineage is shared between North Africa and southern Iberia and likely spread from the former to the latter during the sea-level low stand of the last glacial stage. During this period M. monspessulanus shows a sudden demographic expansion, associated with increased habitat suitability in North Africa. Lower habitat suitability is predicted for both species during interglacial stages, with suitable areas restricted to coastal and mountain ranges of Iberia and Morocco. Compiled fossil data for M. monspessulanus show a continuous fossil record in Iberia at least since the Pliocene and throughout the Pleistocene. CONCLUSIONS The previously proposed hypothesis of Pleistocene glacial extinction of both species in Europe is not supported based on genetic data, bioclimatic envelopes models, and the available fossil record. A model of range retraction to mountain refugia during arid periods and of glacial expansion (demographic and spatial) associated to an increase of Mediterranean habitats during glacial epochs emerges as a general pattern for mesic vertebrates in North Africa. Moreover, the phylogeographic pattern of H. hippocrepis conforms to a well-established biogeographic partition between western and eastern Maghreb.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Machado
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciencias da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Barcelona, Spain
| | - D James Harris
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciencias da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Daniele Salvi
- Department of Health, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
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Sarabia C, vonHoldt B, Larrasoaña JC, Uríos V, Leonard JA. Pleistocene climate fluctuations drove demographic history of African golden wolves (Canis lupaster). Mol Ecol 2020; 30:6101-6120. [PMID: 33372365 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Pleistocene climate change impacted entire ecosystems throughout the world. In the northern hemisphere, the distribution of Arctic species expanded during glacial periods, while more temperate and mesic species contracted into climatic refugia, where isolation drove genetic divergence. Cycles of local cooling and warming in the Sahara region of northern Africa caused repeated contractions and expansions of savannah-like environments which connected mesic species isolated in refugia during interglacial times, possibly driving population expansions and contractions; divergence and geneflow in the associated fauna. Here, we use whole genome sequences of African golden wolves (Canis lupaster), a generalist mesopredator with a wide distribution in northern Africa to estimate their demographic history and past episodes of geneflow. We detect a correlation between divergence times and cycles of increased aridity-associated Pleistocene glacial cycles. A complex demographic history with responses to local climate change in different lineages was found, including a relict lineage north of the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco that has been isolated for more than 18,000 years, possibly a distinct ecotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Sarabia
- Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | - Bridgett vonHoldt
- Faculty of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Princeton, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | | | - Vicente Uríos
- Vertebrate Zoology Research Group, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain
| | - Jennifer A Leonard
- Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC, Seville, Spain
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A Window into Africa’s Past Hydroclimates: The SISAL_v1 Database Contribution. QUATERNARY 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/quat2010004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Africa spans the hemispheres from temperate region to temperate region and has a long history of hominin evolution. Although the number of Quaternary palaeoclimatic records from the continent is increasing, much of the history of spatial and temporal climatic variability is still debated. Speleothems, as archives of terrestrial hydroclimate variability, can help reveal this history. Here we review the progress made to date, with a focus on the first version of the Speleothem Isotopes Synthesis and AnaLysis (SISAL) database. The geology of Africa has limited development of large karst regions to four areas: along the northern coast bordering the Mediterranean, eastern Africa and the Horn of Africa, southwestern Africa and southern Africa. Exploitation of the speleothem palaeoclimate archives in these regions is uneven, with long histories of research, e.g., in South Africa, but large areas with no investigations such as West Africa. Consequently, the evidence of past climate change reviewed here is irregularly sampled in both time and space. Nevertheless, we show evidence of migration of the monsoon belt, with enhanced rainfall during interglacials observed in northeast Africa, southern Arabia and the northern part of southern Africa. Evidence from eastern Africa indicates significant decadal and centennial scale rainfall variability. In northwestern and southern Africa, precession and eccentricity influence speleothem growth, largely through changing synoptic storm activity.
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