A study examines the evolution of lions. The demographic and evolutionary histories of distinct populations of lions across the world are poorly understood. M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Tomas Marques-Bonet, and colleagues analyzed genomic data of 20 lion specimens, including extant lions from Africa and India, lions from extinct populations that lived outside modern lions' geographic distribution between the 15th century and 1959, and extinct Pleistocene cave lions from Siberia and the Yukon that lived approximately 30,000 years ago. The analysis suggests that cave and modern lions shared an ancestor that lived approximately 500,000 years ago. After their divergence, the lineages of cave and modern lions likely did not hybridize. The two main lineages of modern lions likely diverged approximately 70,000 years ago and exhibited subsequent gene flow. However, lions from India, which have small population sizes, exhibited little genetic diversity, coinciding with historical evidence of anthropogenic population declines after the 18th century. Previous studies have addressed the feasibility of using DNA from lions in India to restore North African lion populations, but the findings suggest that West African lions are the closest living relatives of North African lions, according to the authors.
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Article #19-19423: "The evolutionary history of extinct and living lions," by Marc de Manuel et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: M. Thomas P. Gilbert, University of Copenhagen, DENMARK; tel: +45-23712519; email: <tgilbert@sund.ku.dk>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences