title: Ancient population genomics and the study of evolution.
abstract: Recently, the study of ancient DNA (aDNA) has been greatly enhanced by the development of second-generation DNA sequencing technologies and targeted enrichment strategies. These developments have allowed the recovery of several complete ancient genomes, a result that would have been considered virtually impossible only a decade ago. Prior to these developments, aDNA research was largely focused on the recovery of short DNA sequences and their use in the study of phylogenetic relationships, molecular rates, species identification and population structure. However, it is now possible to sequence a large number of modern and ancient complete genomes from a single species and thereby study the genomic patterns of evolutionary change over time. Such a study would herald the beginnings of ancient population genomics and its use in the study of evolution. Species that are amenable to such large-scale studies warrant increased research effort. We report here progress on a population genomic study of the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae). This species is ideally suited to ancient population genomic research because both modern and ancient samples are abundant in the permafrost conditions of Antarctica. This species will enable us to directly address many of the fundamental questions in ecology and evolution.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parks
authors.affiliation: Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita di Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baroni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita di Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Salvatore
authors.affiliation: China National Genebank-Shenzhen, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Republic of China Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Millar
authors.affiliation: Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia d.lambert@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lambert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics* / Q000266:history; D005580:Fossils; D049690:History, Ancient; D056186:Metagenomics / Q000379:methods*; D046429:Spheniscidae / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
keywords: Adélie penguin; ancient DNA; evolutionary rates; population genomics