The first complete genome of the extinct European wild ass (Equus hemionus hydruntinus)

Date

2024-07-01

Author

Özkan, Mustafa
GÜRÜN, KANAT
Yüncü, Eren
VURAL, KIVILCIM BAŞAK
Atağ, Gözde
Akbaba, Ali
Fidan, Fatma Rabia
Sağlıcan, Ekin
ALTINIŞIK, NEFİZE EZGİ
Koptekin, Dilek
Pawłowska, Kamilla
Hodder, Ian
Adcock, Sarah E.
Arbuckle, Benjamin S.
Steadman, Sharon R.
McMahon, Gregory
Erdal, Yılmaz Selim
Bilgin, Cemal Can
Togan, İnci
Geigl, Eva-Maria
Götherström, Anders
Grange, Thierry
Özer, Füsun
Somel, Mehmet

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We present palaeogenomes of three morphologically unidentified Anatolian equids dating to the first millennium BCE, sequenced to a coverage of 0.6–6.4×. Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes of the Anatolian individuals clustered with those of Equus hydruntinus (or Equus hemionus hydruntinus), the extinct European wild ass, secular name ‘hydruntine’. Further, the Anatolian wild ass whole genome profiles fell outside the genomic diversity of other extant and past Asiatic wild ass (E. hemionus) lineages. These observations suggest that the three Anatolian wild asses represent hydruntines, making them the latest recorded survivors of this lineage, about a millennium later than the latest observations in the zooarchaeological record. Our mitogenomic and genomic analyses indicate that E. h. hydruntinus was a clade belonging to ancient and present-day E. hemionus lineages that radiated possibly between 0.6 and 0.8 Mya. We also find evidence consistent with recent gene flow between hydruntines and Middle Eastern wild asses. Analyses of genome-wide heterozygosity and runs of homozygosity suggest that the Anatolian wild ass population may have lost genetic diversity by the mid-first millennium BCE, a possible sign of its eventual demise.

Subject Keywords

ancient DNA, Asiatic wild ass, demography, Equus hemionus hydruntinus, population genetics, taxonomy

URI

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85197382071&origin=inward
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/110286

Collections

Department of Biology, Article