Title

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

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-13-2021

Publication Title

Nature

Keywords

Evolutionary genetics, Palaeontology, Plylogenetics, Speciation

ISSN

0028-0836

Volume

2021

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.

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.

ORCID ID

0000-0003-4540-7106

DOI

10.1038/s41586-020-03082-x