Ancient DNA Analysis Affirms the Canid from Altai as a Primitive Dog

The origin of domestic dogs remains controversial, with genetic data indicating a separation between modern dogs and wolves in the Late Pleistocene. However, only a few dog-like fossils are found prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, and it is widely accepted that the dog domestication predates the beginning of agriculture about 10,000 years ago. In order to evaluate the genetic relationship of one of the oldest dogs, we have isolated ancient DNA from the recently described putative 33,000-year old Pleistocene dog from Altai and analysed 413 nucleotides of the mitochondrial control region. Our analyses reveal that the unique haplotype of the Altai dog is more closely related to modern dogs and prehistoric New World canids than it is to contemporary wolves. Further genetic analyses of ancient canids may reveal a more exact date and centre of domestication. © 2013 Druzhkova et al.Peer Reviewe

Leben in der Frauenkirche: Das Magazin der Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden

The genus Equus is richly represented in the fossil record, yet our understanding of taxonomic relationships within this genus remains limited. To estimate the phylogenetic relationships among modern horses, zebras, asses and donkeys, we generated the first data set including complete mitochondrial sequences from all seven extant lineages within the genus Equus. Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic inference confirms that zebras are monophyletic within the genus, and the Plains and Grevy’s zebras form a well-supported monophyletic group. Using ancient DNA techniques, we further characterize the complete mitochondrial genomes of three extinct equid lineages (the New World stilt-legged horses, NWSLH; the subgenus Sussemionus; and the Quagga, Equus quagga quagga). Comparisons with extant taxa confirm the NWSLH as being part of the caballines, and the Quagga and Plains zebras as being conspecific. However, the evolutionary relationships among the non-caballine lineages, including the now-extinct subgenus Sussemionus, remain unresolved, most likely due to extremely rapid radiation within this group. The closest living outgroups (rhinos and tapirs) were found to be too phylogenetically distant to calibrate reliable molecular clocks. Additional mitochondrial genome sequence data, including radiocarbon dated ancient equids, will be required before revisiting the exact timing of the lineage radiation leading up to modern equids, which for now were found to have possibly shared a common ancestor as far as up to 4 Million years ago (Mya)

Paleolithic Man of Denisova Cave and Zoogeography of Pleistocene Mammals of Northwestern Altai

Mammal population of the northwestern Altai included residents, autochthonous species, cosmopolitans, and migrants. The last clearly indicate biogeographical relationships of the biota of the Altai Mountains in the Pleistocene. Most of them penetrated into the Altai from the south. The majority of ungulates and rodents migrated from Central Asia. Yak, red dog, and snow leopard came from the Himalayas, Pamir, and Tien Shan. The natural environment of the Altai Mountains in the Pleistocene enabled migrations of these mammals from the south to north. The same opportunity was true of the ancient man. It is possible to assume that humans migrated from southeastern Asia and Indochina along the eastern foothills of the Himalayas and Nan Shan Mountains to the northwest, to the Zaisan Depression and Altai. This resulted in inevitable exchange of gene material of Paleolithic human populations of southeastern Asia and the Altai