African and Asian leopards are highly differentiated at the genomic level

Authors

• Johanna L.A. Paijmans, University of Potsdam; University of Leicester; University of Cambridge;
• Axel Barlow, University of Potsdam; Nottingham Trent University
• Matthew S. Becker, Zambian Carnivore Programme
• James A. Cahill, Rockefeller University; University of Florida
• Joerns Fickel, University of Potsdam; Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
• Daniel W.G. Förster, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
• Katrin Gries, Der Grüne Zoo Wuppertal
• Stefanie Hartmann, University of Potsdam
• Rasmus Worsøe Havmøller, University of Copenhagen
• Kirstin Henneberger, University of Potsdam
• Christian Kern, Tierpark Berlin-Friedrichsfelde
• Andrew C. Kitchener, National Museums Scotland; School of Geosciences
• Eline D. Lorenzen, University of Copenhagen
• Frieder Mayer, Museum für Naturkunde
• Stephen James O'Brien, ITMO University; Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
• Johanna von Seth, Swedish Museum of Natural History; Centre for Palaeogenetics; Stockholm University
• Mikkel-Holder S. Sinding, University of Copenhagen
• Göran Spong, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
• Olga Uphyrkina, Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity
• Bettina Wachter, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
• Michael V. Westbury, University of Potsdam; University of Copenhagen
• Love Dalén, Swedish Museum of Natural History; Centre for Palaeogenetics; Stockholm University
• Jong Bhak, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST); Clinomics, Genome Research Foundation
• Andrea Manica, University of Cambridge
• Michael Hofreiter, University of Potsdam

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Current Biology

ISSN

0960-9822

Publication Date

5-10-2021

Keywords

Genomes, Historical Samples, Leopards, Out-Of-Africa, Panthera pardus, Population Genomics

Abstract

Leopards are the only big cats still widely distributed across the continents of Africa and Asia. They occur in a wide range of habitats and are often found in close proximity to humans. But despite their ubiquity, leopard phylogeography and population history have not yet been studied with genomic tools. Here, we present population-genomic data from 26 modern and historical samples encompassing the vast geographical distribution of this species. We find that Asian leopards are broadly monophyletic with respect to African leopards across almost their entire nuclear genomes. This profound genetic pattern persists despite the animals’ high potential mobility, and despite evidence of transfer of African alleles into Middle Eastern and Central Asian leopard populations within the last 100,000 years. Our results further suggest that Asian leopards originated from a single out-of-Africa dispersal event 500–600 thousand years ago and are characterized by higher population structuring, stronger isolation by distance, and lower heterozygosity than African leopards. Taxonomic categories do not take into account the variability in depth of divergence among subspecies. The deep divergence between the African subspecies and Asian populations contrasts with the much shallower divergence among putative Asian subspecies. Reconciling genomic variation and taxonomy is likely to be a growing challenge in the genomics era.

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.084

Volume

31

Issue

9

First Page

1872

Last Page

1885

Comments

Highlights

• African and Asian leopards are highly differentiated at the genomic level
• Out-of-Africa dispersal involved a relatively small number of individuals
• Leopards in Africa show higher heterozygosity and less structure than those in Asia
• Aligning genomic data with current subspecies boundaries can be challenging

NSUWorks Citation

Paijmans, Johanna L.A.; Axel Barlow; Matthew S. Becker; James A. Cahill; Joerns Fickel; Daniel W.G. Förster; Katrin Gries; Stefanie Hartmann; Rasmus Worsøe Havmøller; Kirstin Henneberger; Christian Kern; Andrew C. Kitchener; Eline D. Lorenzen; Frieder Mayer; Stephen James O'Brien; Johanna von Seth; Mikkel-Holder S. Sinding; Göran Spong; Olga Uphyrkina; Bettina Wachter; Michael V. Westbury; Love Dalén; Jong Bhak; Andrea Manica; and Michael Hofreiter. 2021. "African and Asian leopards are highly differentiated at the genomic level." Current Biology 31, (9): 1872-1885. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.084.