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Evolutionary History of Saber-Toothed Cats Based on Ancient Mitogenomics

2017; Elsevier BV; Volume: 27; Issue: 21 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.033

1879-0445

Johanna L. A. Paijmans, Ross Barnett, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Marie Lisandra Zepeda Mendoza, J.W.F. Reumer, John De Vos, Grant D. Zazula, Doris Nagel, Gennady F. Baryshnikov, Jennifer A. Leonard, Nadin Rohland, Michael V. Westbury, Axel Barlow, Michael Hofreiter,

Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies

Saber-toothed cats (Machairodontinae) are among the most widely recognized representatives of the now largely extinct Pleistocene megafauna. However, many aspects of their ecology, evolution, and extinction remain uncertain. Although ancient-DNA studies have led to huge advances in our knowledge of these aspects of many other megafauna species (e.g., mammoths and cave bears), relatively few ancient-DNA studies have focused on saber-toothed cats [1Widga C. Fulton T.L. Martin L.D. Shapiro B. Homotherium serum and Cervalces from the Great Lakes Region, USA: geochronology, morphology and ancient DNA.Boreas. 2012; 41: 546-556Crossref Scopus (11) Google Scholar, 2Metcalf J.L. Turney C. Barnett R. Martin F. Bray S.C. Vilstrup J.T. Orlando L. Salas-Gismondi R. Loponte D. Medina M. et al.Synergistic roles of climate warming and human occupation in Patagonian megafaunal extinctions during the Last Deglaciation.Sci. Adv. 2016; 2: e1501682Crossref PubMed Scopus (91) Google Scholar, 3Barnett R. Barnes I. Phillips M.J. Martin L.D. Harington C.R. Leonard J.A. Cooper A. Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat.Curr. Biol. 2005; 15: R589-R590Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (103) Google Scholar], and they have been restricted to short fragments of mitochondrial DNA. Here we investigate the evolutionary history of two lineages of saber-toothed cats (Smilodon and Homotherium) in relation to living carnivores and find that the Machairodontinae form a well-supported clade that is distinct from all living felids. We present partial mitochondrial genomes from one S. populator sample and three Homotherium sp. samples, including the only Late Pleistocene Homotherium sample from Eurasia [4Reumer J.W.F. Rook L. Van Der Borg K. Post K. Mol D. De Vos J. Late Pleistocene survival of the saber-toothed cat Homotherium in northwestern Europe.J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 2003; 23: 260-262Crossref Scopus (65) Google Scholar]. We confirm the identification of the unique Late Pleistocene European fossil through ancient-DNA analyses, thus strengthening the evidence that Homotherium occurred in Europe over 200,000 years later than previously believed. This in turn forces a re-evaluation of its demography and extinction dynamics. Within the Machairodontinae, we find a deep divergence between Smilodon and Homotherium (∼18 million years) but limited diversity between the American and European Homotherium specimens. The genetic data support the hypothesis that all Late Pleistocene (or post-Villafrancian) Homotherium should be considered a single species, H. latidens, which was previously proposed based on morphological data [5Koot, M. (2007). Sabre-tooth Mayhem. An overview of the various species of Homotherium and an analysis of their validity. MSc thesis (Utrecht University).Google Scholar, 6Koot M.B. Reumer J.W.F. de Vos J. Testing the potential monospecificity of the sabre-tooth cat genus Homotherium using comparative data from recent large cats.North Am. Paleontol. Conv. 2009; 9: 96Google Scholar].