TY - JOUR
T1 - Genomic Signatures of Divergent Ecological Strategies in a Recent Radiation of Neotropical Wild Cats
AU - Ramirez, Jorge L.
AU - Lescroart, Jonas
AU - Figueiró, Henrique V.
AU - Torres-Florez, Juan Pablo
AU - Villela, Priscilla M.S.
AU - Coutinho, Luiz L.
AU - Freitas, Patricia D.
AU - Johnson, Warren E.
AU - Antunes, Agostinho
AU - Galetti, Pedro M.
AU - Eizirik, Eduardo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.
PY - 2022/6/1
Y1 - 2022/6/1
N2 - Ecological differentiation among diverging species is an important component of the evolutionary process and can be investigated in rapid and recent radiations. Here, we use whole genome sequences of five species from the genus Leopardus, a recently diversified Neotropical lineage with species bearing distinctive morphological, ecological, and behavioral features, to investigate genome-wide diversity, comparative demographic history and signatures of positive selection. Our results show that divergent ecological strategies are reflected in genomic features, for example a generalist species shows historically larger effective population size and higher heterozygosity than habitat specialists. The demographic history of these cats seems to have been jointly driven by climate fluctuations and habitat specialization, with different ecological adaptations leading to distinct trajectories. Finally, a gene involved in vertebrate retinal neurogenesis (POU4F2) was found to be under positive selection in the margay, a cat with notoriously large eyes that are likely associated with its nocturnal and arboreal specializations.
AB - Ecological differentiation among diverging species is an important component of the evolutionary process and can be investigated in rapid and recent radiations. Here, we use whole genome sequences of five species from the genus Leopardus, a recently diversified Neotropical lineage with species bearing distinctive morphological, ecological, and behavioral features, to investigate genome-wide diversity, comparative demographic history and signatures of positive selection. Our results show that divergent ecological strategies are reflected in genomic features, for example a generalist species shows historically larger effective population size and higher heterozygosity than habitat specialists. The demographic history of these cats seems to have been jointly driven by climate fluctuations and habitat specialization, with different ecological adaptations leading to distinct trajectories. Finally, a gene involved in vertebrate retinal neurogenesis (POU4F2) was found to be under positive selection in the margay, a cat with notoriously large eyes that are likely associated with its nocturnal and arboreal specializations.
KW - POU4F2
KW - demographic history
KW - habitat specialization
KW - heterozygosity
KW - positive selection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131903929&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/molbev/msac117
DO - 10.1093/molbev/msac117
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 35639983
AN - SCOPUS:85131903929
SN - 0737-4038
VL - 39
JO - Molecular Biology and Evolution
JF - Molecular Biology and Evolution
IS - 6
M1 - msac117
ER -