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Evolutionary history of the extinct Sardinian dhole

Ciucani, Marta Maria ; Jensen, Julie Kragmose ; Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S ; Smith, Oliver ; Lucenti, Saverio Bartolini ; Rosengren, Erika LU orcid ; Rook, Lorenzo ; Tuveri, Caterinella ; Arca, Marisa and Cappellini, Enrico , et al. (2021) In Current biology : CB 31. p.1-9
Abstract

The Sardinian dhole (Cynotherium sardous)1 was an iconic and unique canid species that was endemic to Sardinia and Corsica until it became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene.2-5 Given its peculiar dental morphology, small body size, and high level of endemism, several extant canids have been proposed as possible relatives of the Sardinian dhole, including the Asian dhole and African hunting dog ancestor.3,6-9 Morphometric analyses3,6,8-12 have failed to clarify the evolutionary relationship with other canids.We sequenced the genome of a ca-21,100-year-old Sardinian dhole in order to understand its genomic history and clarify its phylogenetic position. We found that it represents a separate taxon from all other living canids from... (More)

The Sardinian dhole (Cynotherium sardous)1 was an iconic and unique canid species that was endemic to Sardinia and Corsica until it became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene.2-5 Given its peculiar dental morphology, small body size, and high level of endemism, several extant canids have been proposed as possible relatives of the Sardinian dhole, including the Asian dhole and African hunting dog ancestor.3,6-9 Morphometric analyses3,6,8-12 have failed to clarify the evolutionary relationship with other canids.We sequenced the genome of a ca-21,100-year-old Sardinian dhole in order to understand its genomic history and clarify its phylogenetic position. We found that it represents a separate taxon from all other living canids from Eurasia, Africa, and North America, and that the Sardinian dhole lineage diverged from the Asian dhole ca 885 ka. We additionally detected historical gene flow between the Sardinian and Asian dhole lineages, which ended approximately 500-300 ka, when the land bridge between Sardinia and mainland Italy was already broken, severing their population connectivity. Our sample showed low genome-wide diversity compared to other extant canids-probably a result of the long-term isolation-that could have contributed to the subsequent extinction of the Sardinian dhole.

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Abstract (Swedish)
The Sardinian dhole (Cynotherium sardous) was an iconic and unique canid species that was endemic to Sardinia and Corsica until it became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene. Given its peculiar dental morphology, small body size, and high level of endemism, several extant canids have been proposed as possible relatives of the Sardinian dhole, including the Asian dhole and African hunting dog ancestor. Morphometric analyses have failed to clarify the evolutionary relationship with other canids.We sequenced the genome of a ca-21,100-year-old Sardinian dhole in order to understand its genomic history and clarify its phylogenetic position. We found that it represents a separate taxon from all other living canids from Eurasia, Africa,... (More)
The Sardinian dhole (Cynotherium sardous) was an iconic and unique canid species that was endemic to Sardinia and Corsica until it became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene. Given its peculiar dental morphology, small body size, and high level of endemism, several extant canids have been proposed as possible relatives of the Sardinian dhole, including the Asian dhole and African hunting dog ancestor. Morphometric analyses have failed to clarify the evolutionary relationship with other canids.We sequenced the genome of a ca-21,100-year-old Sardinian dhole in order to understand its genomic history and clarify its phylogenetic position. We found that it represents a separate taxon from all other living canids from Eurasia, Africa, and North America, and that the Sardinian dhole lineage diverged from the Asian dhole ca 885 ka. We additionally detected historical gene flow between the Sardinian and Asian dhole lineages, which ended approximately 500-300 ka, when the land bridge between Sardinia and mainland Italy was already broken, severing their population connectivity. Our sample showed low genome-wide diversity compared to other extant canids—probably a result of the long-term isolation—that could have contributed to the subsequent extinction of the Sardinian dhole. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Sardinian dhole, Admixture, Cuon, Cynotherium, Canids, Island biodiversity, Ancient DNA, Paleogenomics, Canid evolution, Extinction, Biodiversity, Evolution, Sardinian dhole, Cuon, Cynotherium, canids, island biodiversity, ancient DNA, paleogenomics, canid evolution, extinction, admixture
in
Current biology : CB
volume
31
pages
10 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85121270174
  • pmid:34655517
ISSN
1879-0445
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.059
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.
id
8b5d56b2-1913-44d8-af17-4798b216db62
date added to LUP
2021-10-26 09:46:40
date last changed
2024-05-18 17:27:40
@article{8b5d56b2-1913-44d8-af17-4798b216db62,
  abstract     = {{<p>The Sardinian dhole (Cynotherium sardous)1 was an iconic and unique canid species that was endemic to Sardinia and Corsica until it became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene.2-5 Given its peculiar dental morphology, small body size, and high level of endemism, several extant canids have been proposed as possible relatives of the Sardinian dhole, including the Asian dhole and African hunting dog ancestor.3,6-9 Morphometric analyses3,6,8-12 have failed to clarify the evolutionary relationship with other canids.We sequenced the genome of a ca-21,100-year-old Sardinian dhole in order to understand its genomic history and clarify its phylogenetic position. We found that it represents a separate taxon from all other living canids from Eurasia, Africa, and North America, and that the Sardinian dhole lineage diverged from the Asian dhole ca 885 ka. We additionally detected historical gene flow between the Sardinian and Asian dhole lineages, which ended approximately 500-300 ka, when the land bridge between Sardinia and mainland Italy was already broken, severing their population connectivity. Our sample showed low genome-wide diversity compared to other extant canids-probably a result of the long-term isolation-that could have contributed to the subsequent extinction of the Sardinian dhole.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ciucani, Marta Maria and Jensen, Julie Kragmose and Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S and Smith, Oliver and Lucenti, Saverio Bartolini and Rosengren, Erika and Rook, Lorenzo and Tuveri, Caterinella and Arca, Marisa and Cappellini, Enrico and Galaverni, Marco and Randi, Ettore and Guo, Chunxue and Zhang, Guojie and Sicheritz-Pontén, Thomas and Dalén, Love and Gilbert, M Thomas P and Gopalakrishnan, Shyam}},
  issn         = {{1879-0445}},
  keywords     = {{Sardinian dhole; Admixture; Cuon; Cynotherium; Canids; Island biodiversity; Ancient DNA; Paleogenomics; Canid evolution; Extinction; Biodiversity; Evolution; Sardinian dhole; Cuon; Cynotherium; canids; island biodiversity; ancient DNA; paleogenomics; canid evolution; extinction; admixture}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  pages        = {{1--9}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Current biology : CB}},
  title        = {{Evolutionary history of the extinct Sardinian dhole}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.059}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.059}},
  volume       = {{31}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}