Article (Scientific journals)
Nonreceding hare lines: Genetic continuity since the late pleistocene in european mountain hares (Lepus timidus)
Smith, S.; Sandoval-Castellanos, E.; Lagerholm, V. K. et al.
2017In Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 120 (4), p. 891-908
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Keywords :
Ancient DNA; Approximate Bayesian computation; Climate change; Coalescent simulations; Glacial cycles; Phylogeography; Range shift; Bayesian analysis; DNA; Holocene; Europe; Lepus; Lepus timidus
Abstract :
[en] Throughout time, climate changes have caused substantial rearrangements of habitats which have alternately promoted and disfavoured different types of taxa. At first glance, the mountain hare (Lepus timidus) shows the typical hallmarks of a cold-adapted species that has retreated to refugia since the onset of the current Holocene interglacial. In contrary to expectations, however, the species has a high contemporary genetic diversity with no clear differentiation between geographically isolated populations. In order to clarify the phylogeographic history of European mountain hares, we here analysed ancient DNA from the glacial populations that inhabited the previous midlatitude European tundra region. Our results reveal that the Ice Age hares had similar levels of genetic variation and lack of geographic structure as observed today, and the ancient samples were intermingled with modern individuals throughout the reconstructed evolutionary tree. This suggests a temporal genetic continuity in Europe, where the mountain hares were able to keep pace with the rapid changes at the last glacial/interglacial transition and successfully track their shifting habitat to northern and alpine regions. Further, the temporal demographic analyses showed that the species’ population size in Europe appears to have been tightly linked with palaeoclimatic fluctuations, with increases and declines occurring during periods of global cooling and warming, respectively. Taken together, our results suggest that neither habitat shifts nor demographic fluctuations have had any substantial impact on the genetic diversity of European mountain hares. This remarkable resilience, which contrasts to a majority of previously investigated coldadapted species, is likely due to its generalist nature that makes it less vulnerable to environmental changes. © 2016 The Linnean Society of London.
Disciplines :
History
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Smith, S.;  Department for Integrative Biology and Evolution, Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Savoyenstrasse 1a, Vienna, Austria
Sandoval-Castellanos, E.;  Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico
Lagerholm, V. K.;  Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Napierala, H.;  Zentrum für Naturwissenschaftliche Archaologie, Archäozoologie, Rümelinstraße 23, Tübingen, Germany
Sablin, M.;  Theriology Laboratory, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation
Von Seth, J.;  Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
Fladerer, F. A.;  Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology OREA, Quaternary Archaeology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Fleischmarkt 22, Wien, Austria
Germonpré, M.;  Operational Direction ‘Earth and History of Life’, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, Brussels, Belgium
Wojtal, P.;  Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sławkowska 17, Krakow, Poland
Miller, Rebecca ;  Université de Liège - ULiège
Stewart, J. R.;  Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom
Dalén, L.;  Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
Language :
English
Title :
Nonreceding hare lines: Genetic continuity since the late pleistocene in european mountain hares (Lepus timidus)
Publication date :
2017
Journal title :
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
ISSN :
0024-4066
eISSN :
1095-8312
Publisher :
Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom
Volume :
120
Issue :
4
Pages :
891-908
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Name of the research project :
SYNTHESYS grant (SE-TAF 1323); FP6 BiodivERsA ERA-NET program Climigrate; Strategic Research Programme EkoKlim at Stockholm University; ULg Trou Al’Wesse project
ULiège - Université de Liège
Funders :
UE - Union Européenne [BE]
Sverige Vetenskapsrådet [SE]
Stockholm University
SPW - Service Public de Wallonie [BE]
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