Research article
Late Quaternary loss of genetic diversity in muskox (Ovibos)
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* Corresponding author: Ross DE MacPhee macphee@amnh.org
- † Equal contributors
1 Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024, USA
2 Laboratory of Mammals, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia
3 Cerpolex/Mammuthus, Gudumholm 41, NL-2133 HG Hoofddorp, Netherlands
4 GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Molecular Virology, Ingolstaedter Landstr.1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
BMC Evolutionary Biology 2005, 5:49 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-5-49
Published: 6 October 2005Abstract
Background
The modern wildherd of the tundra muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is native only to the New World (northern North America and Greenland), and its genetic diversity is notably low. However, like several other megafaunal mammals, muskoxen enjoyed a holarctic distribution during the late Pleistocene. To investigate whether collapse in range and loss of diversity might be correlated, we collected mitochondrial sequence data (hypervariable region and cytochrome b) from muskox fossil material recovered from localities in northeastern Asia and the Arctic Archipelago of northern North America, dating from late Pleistocene to late Holocene, and compared our results to existing databases for modern muskoxen.
Results
Two classes of haplotypes were detected in the fossil material. "Surviving haplotypes" (SHs), closely similar or identical to haplotypes found in modern muskoxen and ranging in age from ~22,000 to ~160 yrbp, were found in all New World samples as well as some samples from northeastern Asia. "Extinct haplotypes" (EHs), dating between ~44,000 and ~18,000 yrbp, were found only in material from the Taimyr Peninsula and New Siberian Islands in northeastern Asia. EHs were not found in the Holocene muskoxen specimens available for this study, nor have they been found in other studies of extant muskox populations.
Conclusion
We provisionally interpret this evidence as showing that genetic variability was reduced in muskoxen after the Last Glacial Maximum but before the mid-Holocene, or roughly within the interval 18,000-4,000 yrbp. Narrowing this gap further will require the recovery of more fossils and additional genetic information from this interval.