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

Angela R. Perri; Kieren J. Mitchell; Alice Mouton; Sandra Álvarez-Carretero; Ardern Hulme-Beaman; James 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; Philippe 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; Laurent A.F. Frantz

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-03082-x

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

Angela R. Perri, Kieren J. Mitchell, Alice Mouton, Sandra Álvarez-Carretero, Ardern Hulme-Beaman, James 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 ReisAllowen Evin, Philippe 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, Laurent A.F. Frantz

Human Evolution and Social Change, School of (SHESC)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

39 Scopus citations

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 Canidae^2,3, 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.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	87-91
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	591
Issue number	7848
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03082-x
State	Published - Mar 4 2021

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Perri, A. R., Mitchell, K. J., Mouton, A., Álvarez-Carretero, S., Hulme-Beaman, A., Haile, J., Jamieson, A., Meachen, J., Lin, A. T., Schubert, B. W., Ameen, C., Antipina, E. E., Bover, P., Brace, S., Carmagnini, A., Carøe, C., Samaniego Castruita, J. A., Chatters, J. C., Dobney, K., ... Frantz, L. A. F. (2021). Dire wolves were the last of an ancient New World canid lineage. Nature, 591(7848), 87-91. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03082-x

Perri, AR, Mitchell, KJ, Mouton, A, Álvarez-Carretero, S, Hulme-Beaman, A, Haile, J, Jamieson, A, Meachen, J, Lin, AT, Schubert, BW, Ameen, C, Antipina, EE, Bover, P, Brace, S, Carmagnini, A, Carøe, C, Samaniego Castruita, JA, Chatters, JC, Dobney, K, dos Reis, M, Evin, A, Gaubert, P, Gopalakrishnan, S, Gower, G, Heiniger, H, Helgen, KM, Kapp, J, Kosintsev, PA, Linderholm, A, Ozga, AT, Presslee, S, Salis, AT, Saremi, NF, Shew, C, Skerry, K, Taranenko, DE, Thompson, M, Sablin, MV, Kuzmin, YV, Collins, MJ, Sinding, MHS, Gilbert, MTP, Stone, AC, Shapiro, B, Van Valkenburgh, B, Wayne, RK, Larson, G, Cooper, A & Frantz, LAF 2021, 'Dire wolves were the last of an ancient New World canid lineage', Nature, vol. 591, no. 7848, pp. 87-91. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03082-x

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title = "Dire wolves were the last of an ancient New World canid lineage",

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.",

author = "Perri, {Angela R.} and Mitchell, {Kieren J.} and Alice Mouton and Sandra {\'A}lvarez-Carretero and Ardern Hulme-Beaman and James Haile and Alexandra Jamieson and Julie Meachen and Lin, {Audrey T.} and Schubert, {Blaine W.} and Carly Ameen and Antipina, {Ekaterina E.} and Pere Bover and Selina Brace and Alberto Carmagnini and Christian Car{\o}e and {Samaniego Castruita}, {Jose A.} and Chatters, {James C.} and Keith Dobney and {dos Reis}, Mario and Allowen Evin and Philippe Gaubert and Shyam Gopalakrishnan and Graham Gower and Holly Heiniger and Helgen, {Kristofer M.} and Josh Kapp and Kosintsev, {Pavel A.} and Anna Linderholm and Ozga, {Andrew T.} and Samantha Presslee and Salis, {Alexander T.} and Saremi, {Nedda F.} and Colin Shew and Katherine Skerry and Taranenko, {Dmitry E.} and Mary Thompson and Sablin, {Mikhail V.} and Kuzmin, {Yaroslav V.} and Collins, {Matthew J.} and Sinding, {Mikkel Holger S.} and Gilbert, {M. Thomas P.} and Stone, {Anne C.} and Beth Shapiro and {Van Valkenburgh}, Blaire and Wayne, {Robert K.} and Greger Larson and Alan Cooper and Frantz, {Laurent A.F.}",

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AU - Álvarez-Carretero, Sandra

AU - Hulme-Beaman, Ardern

AU - Haile, James

AU - Jamieson, Alexandra

AU - Meachen, Julie

AU - Lin, Audrey T.

AU - Schubert, Blaine W.

AU - Ameen, Carly

AU - Antipina, Ekaterina E.

AU - Bover, Pere

AU - Brace, Selina

AU - Carmagnini, Alberto

AU - Carøe, Christian

AU - Samaniego Castruita, Jose A.

AU - Chatters, James C.

AU - Dobney, Keith

AU - dos Reis, Mario

AU - Evin, Allowen

AU - Gaubert, Philippe

AU - Gopalakrishnan, Shyam

AU - Gower, Graham

AU - Heiniger, Holly

AU - Helgen, Kristofer M.

AU - Kapp, Josh

AU - Kosintsev, Pavel A.

AU - Linderholm, Anna

AU - Ozga, Andrew T.

AU - Presslee, Samantha

AU - Salis, Alexander T.

AU - Saremi, Nedda F.

AU - Shew, Colin

AU - Skerry, Katherine

AU - Taranenko, Dmitry E.

AU - Thompson, Mary

AU - Sablin, Mikhail V.

AU - Kuzmin, Yaroslav V.

AU - Collins, Matthew J.

AU - Sinding, Mikkel Holger S.

AU - Gilbert, M. Thomas P.

AU - Stone, Anne C.

AU - Shapiro, Beth

AU - Van Valkenburgh, Blaire

AU - Wayne, Robert K.

AU - Larson, Greger

AU - Cooper, Alan

AU - Frantz, Laurent A.F.

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N2 - 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.

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

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