Journal article
Mitochondrial genomes reveal an explosive radiation of extinct and extant bears near the Miocene-Pliocene boundary
Johannes Krause, Tina Unger, Aline Nocon, Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis, Mathias Stiller, Leopoldo Soibelzon, Helen Spriggs, Paul H Dear, Adrian W Briggs, Sarah CE Bray, Stephen J O'Brien, Gernot Rabeder, Paul Matheus, Alan Cooper, Montgomery Slatkin, Svante Paeaebo, Michael Hofreiter
BMC EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY | BMC | Published : 2008
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite being one of the most studied families within the Carnivora, the phylogenetic relationships among the members of the bear family (Ursidae) have long remained unclear. Widely divergent topologies have been suggested based on various data sets and methods. RESULTS: We present a fully resolved phylogeny for ursids based on ten complete mitochondrial genome sequences from all eight living and two recently extinct bear species, the European cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) and the American giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus). The mitogenomic data yield a well-resolved topology for ursids, with the sloth bear at the basal position within the genus Ursus. The sun bear is the siste..
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Awarded by NIH
Awarded by NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCES
Awarded by Medical Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
SB and AC were supported by the ARC, and gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Canadian Museum of Nature, and D. Harington for the sample of the Arctodus specimen. We thank S. Giesser for help with the species distribution map design. JK, TU, AN, MS, AWB, SP and MH thank the Max Planck Society for financial support. SOK was supported by an AMNH Conservation Genetics Research Fellowship. ASM and MSlatkin were supported by NIH grant R01-GM40282.