The population history of extant and extinct hyenas.
We have analyzed partial DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from extant striped, brown, and spotted hyenas as well as from Pleistocene cave hyenas. Sequences of the Pleistocene cave hyenas from Eurasia and modern spotted hyenas from Africa are intermixed in phylogenetic analyses, questioning any taxonomic delineation between the two groups. Contrary to cave hyenas in Eurasia, spotted hyenas in Africa show a phylogeographic pattern with little geographical overlap between two mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) clades, suggesting two Pleistocene refugia in the north and south of Africa. Our results, furthermore, suggest three waves of migration from Africa to Eurasia for spotted hyenas, around 3, 1, and 0.3 MYA. A recent emigration of striped hyenas from Africa to Eurasia took place less than 0.1 MYA, resulting in a dramatic expansion of the geographical range of striped hyenas. In striped hyenas and within the geographical range of mtDNA clades in spotted hyenas, we found identical sequences several thousand kilometers apart, indicating a high rate of migration during the Pleistocene as well as the Holocene. Both striped and brown hyenas show low amounts of genetic diversity, with the latter ones displaying just a single haplotype.
Rohland
Nadin
N
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
Pollack
Joshua L
JL
Nagel
Doris
D
Beauval
Cédric
C
Airvaux
Jean
J
Pääbo
Svante
S
Hofreiter
Michael
M
D000349:Africa; D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005060:Europe; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006239:Haplotypes; D045968:Hyaenidae / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D045303:Cytochromes b