title: DNA analysis of a 30,000-year-old Urocitellus glacialis from northeastern Siberia reveals phylogenetic relationships between ancient and present-day arctic ground squirrels.
abstract: In contrast to the abundant fossil record of arctic ground squirrels, Urocitellus parryii, from eastern Beringia, only a limited number of fossils is known from its western part. In 1946, unnamed GULAG prisoners discovered a nest with three mummified carcasses of arctic ground squirrels in the permafrost sediments of the El'ga river, Yakutia, Russia, that were later attributed to a new species, Citellus (Urocitellus) glacialis Vinogr. To verify this assignment and to explore phylogenetic relationships between ancient and present-day arctic ground squirrels, we performed14C dating and ancient DNA analyses of one of the El'ga mummies and four contemporaneous fossils from Duvanny Yar, northeastern Yakutia. Phylogenetic reconstructions, based on complete cytochrome b gene sequences of five Late Pleistocene arctic ground squirrels and those of modern U. parryii from 21 locations across western Beringia, provided no support for earlier proposals that ancient arctic ground squirrels from Siberia constitute a distinct species. In fact, we observed genetic continuity of the glacialis mitochondrial DNA lineage in modern U. parryii of the Kamchatka peninsula. When viewed in a broader geographic perspective, our findings provide new insights into the genetic history of U. parryii in Late Pleistocene Beringia.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioanthropology and Ancient DNA, Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faerman
authors.affiliation: Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food &Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Gila Kahila
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Bar-Gal
authors.affiliation: D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory, Scientific Archaeology Unit, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boaretto
authors.affiliation: Diamond and Precious Metals Geology Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk 677007, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Gennady G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Boeskorov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Far-East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Magadan 685000, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Nikolai E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Dokuchaev
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Ecology, Penza State University, Penza 440026, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Oleg A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Ermakov
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Theriology, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Fedor N
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Golenishchev
authors.affiliation: Soil Cryology Laboratory, Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Stanislav V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Gubin
authors.affiliation: D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory, Scientific Archaeology Unit, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mintz
authors.affiliation: Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Water, Russian Academy of Sciences, Borok 152742, Russian Federation.|Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630091, Russian Federation.|Tomsk State University, Tomsk 634050, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Evgeniy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simonov
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Hematology, Russian Ministry of Health, Moscow 125167, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Vadim L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Surin
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Ecology, Penza State University, Penza 440026, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Sergei V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Titov
authors.affiliation: Soil Cryology Laboratory, Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Oksana G
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Zanina
authors.affiliation: Department of Vertebral Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Nikolai A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Formozov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001110:Arctic Regions; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D000072441:DNA, Ancient; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005580:Fossils; D005843:Geography; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D012589:Sciuridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D012800:Siberia
chemical_list: D000072441:DNA, Ancient; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D045303:Cytochromes b