Darwin errado de novo: a evolução do cavalo não foi lenta nem gradual

Revising the recent evolutionary history of equids using ancient DNA

Ludovic Orlando a,1, Jessica L. Metcalf b, Maria T. Alberdi c, Miguel Telles-Antunes d, Dominique Bonjeane, Marcel Otte f, Fabiana Martin g, Véra Eisenmann h, Marjan Mashkour i, Flavia Morello j, Jose L. Prado k, Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi l, Bruce J. Shockey m,n, Patrick J. Wrinn o, Sergei K. Vasil'ev p, Nikolai D. Ovodov q, Michael I. Cherry r, Blair Hopwood b, Dean Male b, Jeremy J. Austin b, Catherine Hänni a and Alan Cooper b,2

- Author Affiliations

aInstitut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Université de Lyon 1, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 69364 Lyon Cédex 07, France;

bAustralian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia;

cDepartamento de Paleobiología, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain;

dAcademia das Ciências de Lisboa, 1249-122 Lisboa, Portugal;

eCentre de Recherches de la Grotte Scladina and Archéologie Andennaise, 5300 Sclayn, Belgium;

fService de Préhistoire, Université de Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium;

gArqueóloga Fundación and Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego-Patagonia y Antártica, Casilla 737, Punta Arenas, Chile;

hUnité Mixte de Recherche 5143, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Paléobiodiversité et Paléoenvironnements, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CP 38, 75005 Paris, France;

iUnité Mixte de Recherche 5197, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Département d'Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, Bâtiment d'Anatomie Comparée, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, F-75005 Paris, France;

jUniversidad de Magallanes and Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego-Patagonia y Antártica, Punta Arenas, Chile;

kNúcleo Consolidado sobre Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano, and Departamento de Arqueología, Universidad Nacional del Centro, Del Valle 5737, B7400JWI Olavarría, Argentina;

lDepartamento de Paleontologia de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural, and Universidad Nacional Mayor de Sans Marcos, Lima 14, Peru;

mManhattan College, New York, NY 10471; Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10021;

oDepartment of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0030;

pInstitute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russian Federation;

qLaboratory of Archaeology and Paleogeography of Central Siberia, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Academgorodok, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russian Federation; and

rDepartment of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland 7602, South Africa

Edited by Raymond L. Bernor, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA, and accepted by the Editorial Board October 20, 2009 (received for review April 15, 2009)

Abstract

The rich fossil record of the family Equidae (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) over the past 55 MY has made it an icon for the patterns and processes of macroevolution. Despite this, many aspects of equid phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy remain unresolved. Recent genetic analyses of extinct equids have revealed unexpected evolutionary patterns and a need for major revisions at the generic, subgeneric, and species levels. To investigate this issue we examine 35 ancient equid specimens from four geographic regions (South America, Europe, Southwest Asia, and South Africa), of which 22 delivered 87–688 bp of reproducible aDNA mitochondrial sequence. Phylogenetic analyses support a major revision of the recent evolutionary history of equids and reveal two new species, a South American hippidion and a descendant of a basal lineage potentially related to Middle Pleistocene equids. Sequences from specimens assigned to the giant extinct Cape zebra, Equus capensis, formed a separate clade within the modern plain zebra species, a phenotypicically plastic group that also included the extinct quagga. In addition, we revise the currently recognized extinction times for two hemione-related equid groups. However, it is apparent that the current dataset cannot solve all of the taxonomic and phylogenetic questions relevant to the evolution of Equus. In light of these findings, we propose a rapid DNA barcoding approach to evaluate the taxonomic status of the many Late Pleistocene fossil Equidae species that have been described from purely morphological analyses.

DNA taxonomy equid evolution macroevolution phylogeny ancient DNA
Footnotes

1To whom correspondence may be addressed at: Paleogenetics and Molecular Evolution, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon cédex 07, France. E-mail: ludovic.orlando@ens-lyon.fr

2To whom correspondence may be addressed at: Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, Darling Building, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, South Australia 5005, Australia. E-mail: alan.cooper@adelaide.edu.au

Author contributions: L.O., C.H., and A.C. designed research; L.O., J.L.M., M.T.A., M.T.-A., D.B., M.O., F. Martin, V.E., M.M., F. Morello, J.L.P., R.S.-G., B.J.S., P.J.W., S.K.V., N.D.O., M.I.C., B.H., D.M., and J.J.A. performed research; C.H., A.C., M.T.A., M.T.-A., D.B., M.O., F. Martin, V.E., M.M., F. Morello, J.L.P., R.S.-G., B.J.S., P.J.W., S.K.V., N.D.O., and M.I.C. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; L.O. and V.E. analyzed data; and L.O., J.L.M., and A.C. wrote the paper.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. R.L.B. is a guest editor invited by the Editorial Board.

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