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

Mustafa Özkan¹, Kanat Gürün¹, Eren Yüncü¹, Kıvılcım Başak Vural¹, Gözde Atağ¹, Ali Akbaba^{2

3}, Fatma Rabia Fidan^{1

4}, Ekin Sağlıcan⁵, Ezgi N Altınışık⁶, Dilek Koptekin⁵, Kamilla Pawłowska⁷, Ian Hodder⁸, Sarah E Adcock⁹, Benjamin S Arbuckle¹⁰, Sharon R Steadman¹¹, Gregory McMahon¹², Yılmaz Selim Erdal⁶, C Can Bilgin¹, İnci Togan¹, Eva-Maria Geigl¹³, Anders Götherström¹⁴, Thierry Grange¹³, Füsun Özer⁵, Mehmet Somel¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.
² Department of Anthropology, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
³ Alparslan University, Muş, Turkey.
⁴ Cancer Dynamics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Health Informatics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.
⁶ Department of Anthropology, Human_G Laboratory, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
⁷ Department of Palaeoenvironmental Research, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
⁸ Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
⁹ Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
¹¹ Department of Sociology/Anthropology, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, New York, USA.
¹² Classics, Humanities and Italian Studies Department, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA.
¹³ Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France.
¹⁴ Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

PMID: 38946459
DOI: 10.1111/mec.17440

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

Mustafa Özkan et al. Mol Ecol. 2024 Jul.

. 2024 Jul;33(14):e17440.

doi: 10.1111/mec.17440. Epub 2024 Jul 1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.
² Department of Anthropology, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
³ Alparslan University, Muş, Turkey.
⁴ Cancer Dynamics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Health Informatics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.
⁶ Department of Anthropology, Human_G Laboratory, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
⁷ Department of Palaeoenvironmental Research, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
⁸ Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
⁹ Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
¹¹ Department of Sociology/Anthropology, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, New York, USA.
¹² Classics, Humanities and Italian Studies Department, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA.
¹³ Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France.
¹⁴ Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

PMID: 38946459
DOI: 10.1111/mec.17440

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Equus hemionus hydruntinus; Asiatic wild ass; ancient DNA; demography; population genetics; taxonomy.

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References

REFERENCES

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

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

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