Gelada genomes highlight events of gene flow, hybridisation and local adaptation that track past climatic changes
Theropithecus gelada, the last surviving species of this genus, occupy a unique and highly specialised ecological niche in the Ethiopian highlands. A subdivision into three geographically defined populations (Northern, Central and Southern) has been tentatively proposed for this species on the basis of genetic analyses, but genomic data have been investigated only for two of these groups (Northern and Central). Here we combined newly generated whole genome sequences of individuals sampled from the population living south of the East Africa Great Rift Valley with available data from the other two gelada populations to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the species. Integrating genomic and paleoclimatic data we found that gene-flow across populations and with Papio species tracked past climate changes. The isolation and climatic conditions experienced by Southern geladas during the Holocene shaped local diversity and generated diet-related genomic signatures.
Authors
- Jordi Morata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6146-4322)
- Alessandro Mondanaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0325-7066)
- Francesco Montinaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4506-963X)
- Giacomo Mutti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8687-3333)
- Hiroo Imai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0729-0322)
- Spartaco Gippoliti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5025-7216)
- Cristian Capelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9348-9084)
- Gurja Belay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7349-9218)
- Gonzalo Oteo‐García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0957-4014)
- Matteo Caldon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5108-2021)
- Jean‐Rémi Trotta
- Takayoshi Shotake
Institutions
- University of Parma (IT)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (ES)
- Società Italiana di Fisica (IT)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Studi (SE)
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (ES)
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (ES)
- Centre for Palaeogenetics (SE)
- University of Florence (IT)
- Addis Ababa University (ET)
- University of Bari Aldo Moro (IT)
- University of Tartu (EE)
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Molecular Ecology
- Published
- 2024-08-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17514
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Animal Genetics and Reproduction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.75
Funders
- Leakey Foundation
- Dipartimenti di Eccellenza
- European Commission
- Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca
- Università degli Studi di Parma
- Fondazione CON IL SUD
- Addis Ababa University
- European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
- European Regional Development Fund