A curated dataset of great ape genome diversity

Studying the genetic diversity of non-human great apes is important for research questions in evolution as well as human diversity and disease. Genomic data of the three great ape clades (Pan, Gorilla, Pongo) has been published across multiple studies over more than one decade. However, unlike in humans, no comprehensive dataset on great ape diversity is available, due to different scopes of the original studies. Here, we present a curated dataset of 332 high coverage (≥12-fold) whole genomes, including 198 chimpanzee, 16 bonobo, 77 gorilla and 41 orangutan individuals sequenced on the Illumina platform. By integrating data from captive individuals, we contextualize them with data from wild individuals. We discuss issues with previously published data leading to removal of individuals due to low sequencing depth, missing data, or occurrence of duplicate individuals. This resource of files in CRAM and gVCF format, as well as segregating sites per clade, will allow researchers to address questions related to human and great ape evolution and diversity in a comparative manner.