Dental and phylogeographic patterns of variation in gorillas

Pilbrow, Varsha

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.01.009

Cited by 24 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…This should result in relatively low measures of dissimilarity within each species sample. As a consequence, dissimilarity values for pairs of crania belonging to different species are more likely to be outside the range of conspecific values than if species samples had included more variation (as might result from the inclusion of multiple subspecies, e.g., Pilbrow, 2006Pilbrow, , 2010. Stated in the framework of hypothesis testing used by the proponents of these methods (ignoring for the moment whether such a framework is justified on theoretical grounds), the sample has been selected to minimize variation within species and thus minimize the occurrence of Type II error; i.e., failure to reject the null hypothesis that two crania belong to the same species when in fact they belong to two different species.…”

Section: Does Shape Similarity Imply Conspecificity?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the use of pairwise dissimilarity metrics in paleoanthropology

Gordon

Wood

2013

Journal of Human Evolution

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Section: Does Shape Similarity Imply Conspecificity?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the use of pairwise dissimilarity metrics in paleoanthropology

Gordon

Wood

2013

Journal of Human Evolution

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“…Population substructure is often attributed to an isolation by distance effect, and this has been proposed in the case of western lowland gorillas [9], but alternative causes have also been suggested [4]. For example, a recent study of gorilla dental data found that gorilla population structure correlates more significantly with altitudinal variation than with geographic distance, suggesting that isolation by distance may not provide a complete explanation for population dispersal patterns in gorillas [2].…”

Section: Gorilla Demographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two species of gorilla are currently recognized, based on morphology and geographical distribution within equatorial Africa: western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), in tropical forest north of the Congo river on the west side of the continent, and eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei) ~1000 km to the east, extending to the slopes of the central African mountains [1,2]. Estimates of when the two species diverged have varied, but recent calculations based on genomic data suggest an initial divergence time of at least 500,000 years ago [3] with gene flow continuing until as recently as 80,000 years ago [4] [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Genome-Wide Survey of Genetic Variation in Gorillas Using Reduced Representation Sequencing

et al. 2013

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All non-human great apes are endangered in the wild, and it is therefore important to gain an understanding of their demography and genetic diversity. Whole genome assembly projects have provided an invaluable foundation for understanding genetics in all four genera, but to date genetic studies of multiple individuals within great ape species have largely been confined to mitochondrial DNA and a small number of other loci. Here, we present a genome-wide survey of genetic variation in gorillas using a reduced representation sequencing approach, focusing on the two lowland subspecies. We identify 3,006,670 polymorphic sites in 14 individuals: 12 western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and 2 eastern lowland gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri). We find that the two species are genetically distinct, based on levels of heterozygosity and patterns of allele sharing. Focusing on the western lowland population, we observe evidence for population substructure, and a deficit of rare genetic variants suggesting a recent episode of population contraction. In western lowland gorillas, there is an elevation of variation towards telomeres and centromeres on the chromosomal scale. On a finer scale, we find substantial variation in genetic diversity, including a marked reduction close to the major histocompatibility locus, perhaps indicative of recent strong selection there. These findings suggest that despite their maintaining an overall level of genetic diversity equal to or greater than that of humans, population decline, perhaps associated with disease, has been a significant factor in recent and long-term pressures on wild gorilla populations.

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“…), grauer gorillas have puzzled researchers with regard to their evolutionary relationships and their morphological, functional, and behavioral affinities. Originally considered true mountain gorillas (Coolidge, ; Schultz, ), subsequent work focused on increasing knowledge about grauer gorillas, often highlighting similarities and/or differences to both mountain and western gorillas (Groves, ; Groves and Stott, ; Yamagiwa et al, ; Yamagiwa and Mwanza, ; Uchida, ; Doran and McNeilage, ; Taylor, ; Taylor and Groves, ; Yamagiwa et al, ; Jabbour, ; Pilbrow, ; Tocheri et al, ; Dunn et al, ; Knigge et al, ). Here we combine an overview of the current state of knowledge about grauer gorillas from genetic, morphological, and paleoenvironmental perspectives, with new evidence of two rare skeletal traits present in the hands and feet of eastern gorillas to articulate a founder‐effects hypothesis for the evolutionary origin and population history of the grauer gorilla.…”

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confidence: 99%

The evolutionary origin and population history of the grauer gorilla

Tocheri

Dommain

McFarlin

et al. 2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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KEY WORDSeastern gorilla biogeography; founder effect; genetic bottleneck; osseous and non-osseous coalitions; rare skeletal traits ABSTRACT Gorillas living in western central Africa (Gorilla gorilla) are morphologically and genetically distinguishable from those living in eastern central Africa (Gorilla beringei). Genomic analyses show eastern gorillas experienced a significant reduction in population size during the Pleistocene subsequent to geographical isolation from their western counterparts. However, how these results relate more specifically to the recent biogeographical and evolutionary history of eastern gorillas remains poorly understood. Here we show that two rare morphological traits are present in the hands and feet of both eastern gorilla subspecies at strikingly high frequencies (>60% in G. b. graueri; 28% in G. b. beringei) in comparison with western gorillas (<1%). The intrageneric distribution of these rare traits suggests that they became common among eastern gorillas after diverging from their western relatives during the early to middle Pleistocene. The extremely high frequencies observed among grauer gorillas-which currently occupy a geographic range more than ten times the size of that of mountain gorillas-imply that grauers originated relatively recently from a small founding population of eastern gorillas. Current paleoenvironmental, geological, and biogeographical evidence supports the hypothesis that a small group of eastern gorillas likely dispersed westward from the Virungas into present-day grauer range in the highlands just north of Lake Kivu, either immediately before or directly after the Younger Dryas interval. We propose that as the lowland forests of central Africa expanded rapidly during the early Holocene, they became connected with the expanding highland forests along the Albertine Rift and enabled the descendants of this small group to widely disperse. The descendant populations significantly expanded their geographic range and population numbers relative to the gorillas of the Virunga Mountains and the BwindiImpenetrable Forest, ultimately resulting in the grauer gorilla subspecies recognized today. This founder-effect hypothesis offers some optimism for modern conservation efforts to save critically endangered eastern gorillas from extinction. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:S4-S18,

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Dental and phylogeographic patterns of variation in gorillas

Cited by 24 publications

References 84 publications

Evaluating the use of pairwise dissimilarity metrics in paleoanthropology

Evaluating the use of pairwise dissimilarity metrics in paleoanthropology

A Genome-Wide Survey of Genetic Variation in Gorillas Using Reduced Representation Sequencing

The evolutionary origin and population history of the grauer gorilla

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