TY - JOUR

T1 - The origins and diversification of Holarctic brown bear populations inferred from genomes of past and present populations

AU - Segawa, Takahiro

AU - Rey-Iglesia, Alba

AU - Lorenzen, Eline D.

AU - Westbury, Michael V.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is one of the survivors of the Late Quaternary megafauna extinctions. However, despite being widely distributed across the Holarctic, brown bears have experienced extensive range reductions, and even extirpations in some geographical regions. Previous research efforts using genetic data have provided valuable insights into their evolutionary history. However, most studies have been limited to contemporary individuals or mitochondrial DNA, limiting insights into population processes that preceded the present. Here, we present genomic data from two Late Pleistocene brown bears from Honshu, Japan and eastern Siberia, and combine them with published contemporary and ancient genomes from across the Holarctic range of brown bears to investigate the evolutionary relationships among brown bear populations through time and space. By including genomic data from Late Pleistocene and Holocene individuals sampled outside the current distribution range, we uncover diversity not present in contemporary populations. Notably, although contemporary individuals display geographically structured populations most likely driven by isolation-by-distance, this pattern varies among the ancient samples across different regions. The inclusion of ancient brown bears in our analysis provides novel insights into the evolutionary history of brown bears and contributes to understanding the populations and diversity lost during the Late Quaternary.

AB - The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is one of the survivors of the Late Quaternary megafauna extinctions. However, despite being widely distributed across the Holarctic, brown bears have experienced extensive range reductions, and even extirpations in some geographical regions. Previous research efforts using genetic data have provided valuable insights into their evolutionary history. However, most studies have been limited to contemporary individuals or mitochondrial DNA, limiting insights into population processes that preceded the present. Here, we present genomic data from two Late Pleistocene brown bears from Honshu, Japan and eastern Siberia, and combine them with published contemporary and ancient genomes from across the Holarctic range of brown bears to investigate the evolutionary relationships among brown bear populations through time and space. By including genomic data from Late Pleistocene and Holocene individuals sampled outside the current distribution range, we uncover diversity not present in contemporary populations. Notably, although contemporary individuals display geographically structured populations most likely driven by isolation-by-distance, this pattern varies among the ancient samples across different regions. The inclusion of ancient brown bears in our analysis provides novel insights into the evolutionary history of brown bears and contributes to understanding the populations and diversity lost during the Late Quaternary.

KW - brown bear

KW - demography

KW - evolution

KW - genome

KW - palaeogenome

U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2023.2411

DO - 10.1098/rspb.2023.2411

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38264778

AN - SCOPUS:85183473135

VL - 291

JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

SN - 0962-8452

IS - 2015

M1 - 20232411

ER -