title: Genome data on the extinct Bison schoetensacki establish it as a sister species of the extant European bison (Bison bonasus).
abstract: The European bison (Bison bonasus), now found in Europe and the Caucasus, has been proposed to originate either from the extinct steppe/extant American bison lineage or from the extinct Bison schoetensacki lineage. Bison schoetensacki remains are documented in Eurasian Middle Pleistocene sites, but their presence in Upper Pleistocene sites has been questioned. Despite extensive genetic studies carried out on the steppe and European bison, no remains from the fossil record morphologically identified as Bison schoetensacki has been analyzed up to now.
  
  
  
  In this paper, we analyzed a 36,000-year-old Bison schoetensaki bone sample from the Siréjol cave (France) and a cave hyena coprolite (fossilized feces) found in a nearby cave and containing large amounts of Bovinae DNA. We show that the Bovinae mitochondrial DNA sequences from both samples, including a complete mitochondrial genome sequence, belong to a clade recently reported in the literature. This clade only includes ancient bison specimens without taxonomic identification and displays a sister relationship with the extant European bison. The genetic proximity of Bison schoetensacki with specimens from this clade is corroborated by the analysis of nuclear DNA single nucleotide polymorphisms.
  
  
  
  This work provides genetic evidence supporting the continuing presence of Bison schoetensacki up to the Upper Pleistocene. Bison schoetensacki turns out to be a sister species of Bison bonasus, excluding the steppe bison Bison priscus as a direct ancestor of the European bison.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), IBITECS, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palacio
authors.affiliation: Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), IBITECS, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Berthonaud
authors.affiliation: CNRS-UMR 5276, Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, planètes, environnement, Département des Sciences de la Terre, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon I, 27-43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre, 69622, Villeurbanne cedex, France.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guérin
authors.affiliation: Service de Systématique Moléculaire, UMS 2700 CNRS-MNHN, CP26, 57 Rue Cuvier, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: Josie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lambourdière
authors.affiliation: Service Régional de l'Archéologie, 32 rue de la Dalbade, BP811 31080, Toulouse cedex 6, France.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maksud
authors.affiliation: Centre de Conservation et d'Étude sur les Collections, 13A rue Bancel, 69007, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Philippe
authors.affiliation: Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), IBITECS, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France.|CNRS-UMR 7206, Eco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Département Hommes, Natures et Sociétés, Musée de l'Homme, 17 place du Trocadéro et du 11 novembre, 75016, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Plaire
authors.affiliation: Stafford Research, 200 Acadia Avenue, Lafayette, CO, 80026, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stafford
authors.affiliation: Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), IBITECS, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France.|CNRS-UMR 7206, Eco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Département Hommes, Natures et Sociétés, Musée de l'Homme, 17 place du Trocadéro et du 11 novembre, 75016, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Claude
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Marsolier-Kergoat
authors.affiliation: Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), IBITECS, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France. jean-marc.elalouf@cea.fr.|CNRS-UMR 7206, Eco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Département Hommes, Natures et Sociétés, Musée de l'Homme, 17 place du Trocadéro et du 11 novembre, 75016, Paris, France. jean-marc.elalouf@cea.fr.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0151-6423
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Elalouf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016164:Bison / Q000235:genetics*; D059552:Caves; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe; D005580:Fossils; D005602:France; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Ancient DNA; Bovinae; Cave hyena; Coprolite; Crocuta crocuta; Mitochondrial genome; Paleogenomics