Dire wolves were the last of an ancient New World canid lineage

Authors

• Angela Perri, Durham University
• Kieren J. Mitchell, University of Adelaide
• Alice Mouton, University of California, Los Angeles
• Sandra Alvarez-Carretero, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Ardern Hulme-Beaman, University of Liverpool
• Jaimes Haile, University of Oxford
• Alexandra Jamieson, University of Oxford
• Julie Meachen, Des Moines University
• Audrey T. Lin, University of Oxford
• Blaine W. Schubert, East Tennessee State University
• Carly Ameen, University of Exeter
• Ekaterina E. Antipina, Russian Academy of Sciences
• Pere Bover, Universidad de Zaragoza
• Selina Brace, Natural History Museum, London
• Alberto Carmagnini, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Christian Carøe, University of Copenhagen
• Jose A. Samaniego Castruita, University of Copenhagen
• James C. Chatters, Applied Paleoscience
• Keith Dobney, University of Sydney
• Mario dos Reis, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Allowen Evin, Université de Montpellier
• Phillippe Gaubert, Université Paul Sabatier
• Shyam Gopalakrishnan, University of Copenhagen
• Graham Gower, University of Adelaide
• Holly Heiniger, University of Adelaide
• Kristofer M. Helgen, Australian Museum, Sydney
• Josh Kapp, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Pavel A. Kosintsev, Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Anna Linderholm, University of Oxford
• Andrew T. Ozga, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
• Samantha Presslee, University of York
• Alexander T. Salis, University of Adelaide
• Nedda F. Saremi, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Colin Shew, University of California, Los Angeles
• Katherine Skerry, Arizona State University
• Dmitry E. Taranenko, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Mary Thompson, Idaho State University
• Mikhail V. Sablin, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Yaroslav V. Kuzmin, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Matthew J. Collins, University of Cambridge
• Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding, University of Copenhagen
• M. Thomas P. Gilbert, University of Copenhagen
• Anne C. Stone, Arizona State University
• Beth Shapiro, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Blaire Van Valkenburgh, University of California, Los Angeles
• Robert K. Wayne, University of California, Los Angeles
• Greger Larson, University of Oxford
• Alan Cooper, South Australian Museum, Adelaide
• Laurent A. F. Frantz, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College

ORCID

0000-0003-4540-7106

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Nature

ISSN

0028-0836

Publication Date

1-13-2021

Keywords

Evolutionary genetics, Palaeontology, Plylogenetics, Speciation

Abstract

Dire wolves are considered to be one of the most common and widespread large carnivores in Pleistocene America1, yet relatively little is known about their evolution or extinction. Here, to reconstruct the evolutionary history of dire wolves, we sequenced five genomes from sub-fossil remains dating from 13,000 to more than 50,000 years ago. Our results indicate that although they were similar morphologically to the extant grey wolf, dire wolves were a highly divergent lineage that split from living canids around 5.7 million years ago. In contrast to numerous examples of hybridization across Canidae2,3, there is no evidence for gene flow between dire wolves and either North American grey wolves or coyotes. This suggests that dire wolves evolved in isolation from the Pleistocene ancestors of these species. Our results also support an early New World origin of dire wolves, while the ancestors of grey wolves, coyotes and dholes evolved in Eurasia and colonized North America only relatively recently.

DOI

10.1038/s41586-020-03082-x

Volume

2021

NSUWorks Citation

Perri, Angela; Kieren J. Mitchell; Alice Mouton; Sandra Alvarez-Carretero; Ardern Hulme-Beaman; Jaimes Haile; Alexandra Jamieson; Julie Meachen; Audrey T. Lin; Blaine W. Schubert; Carly Ameen; Ekaterina E. Antipina; Pere Bover; Selina Brace; Alberto Carmagnini; Christian Carøe; Jose A. Samaniego Castruita; James C. Chatters; Keith Dobney; Mario dos Reis; Allowen Evin; Phillippe Gaubert; Shyam Gopalakrishnan; Graham Gower; Holly Heiniger; Kristofer M. Helgen; Josh Kapp; Pavel A. Kosintsev; Anna Linderholm; Andrew T. Ozga; Samantha Presslee; Alexander T. Salis; Nedda F. Saremi; Colin Shew; Katherine Skerry; Dmitry E. Taranenko; Mary Thompson; Mikhail V. Sablin; Yaroslav V. Kuzmin; Matthew J. Collins; Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding; M. Thomas P. Gilbert; Anne C. Stone; Beth Shapiro; Blaire Van Valkenburgh; Robert K. Wayne; Greger Larson; Alan Cooper; and Laurent A. F. Frantz. 2021. "Dire wolves were the last of an ancient New World canid lineage." Nature 2021, (). doi:10.1038/s41586-020-03082-x.