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Title:
Nuclear Genomic Sequences Reveal that Polar Bears Are an Old and Distinct Bear Lineage
Authors:
Hailer, Frank; Kutschera, Verena E.; Hallström, Björn M.; Klassert, Denise; Fain, Steven R.; Leonard, Jennifer A.; Arnason, Ulfur; Janke, Axel
Affiliation:
AA(Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany), AB(Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany), AC(Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany), AD(Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany), AE(National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory, 1490 East Main Street, Ashland, OR, USA), AF(Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avenida Américo Vespucio, s/n, 41092 Seville, Spain), AG(Lund University Hospital, Box 117, 221 00 Lund, Sweden), AH(Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.; Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Publication:
Science, Volume 336, Issue 6079, pp. 344- (2012). (Sci Homepage)
Publication Date:
04/2012
Category:
EVOLUTION
Origin:
SCIENCE
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 2012: Science
DOI:
10.1126/science.1216424
Bibliographic Code:
2012Sci...336..344H

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that the polar bear matriline (mitochondrial DNA) evolved from a brown bear lineage since the late Pleistocene, potentially indicating rapid speciation and adaption to arctic conditions. Here, we present a high-resolution data set from multiple independent loci across the nuclear genomes of a broad sample of polar, brown, and black bears. Bayesian coalescent analyses place polar bears outside the brown bear clade and date the divergence much earlier, in the middle Pleistocene, about 600 (338 to 934) thousand years ago. This provides more time for polar bear evolution and confirms previous suggestions that polar bears carry introgressed brown bear mitochondrial DNA due to past hybridization. Our results highlight that multilocus genomic analyses are crucial for an accurate understanding of evolutionary history.
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