RT Journal Article
T1 A molecular phylogeny of the extinct South American gomphothere through collagen sequence analysis
A1 Buckley, Michael
A1 Recabarren, Omar P.
A1 Lawless, Craig
A1 García García, Nuria
A1 Pino, Mario
AB The extant elephants are only a small fraction of the diverse order of proboscideans that once roamed the planet, whereas the extinct gomphotheres represent the largest and most diverse of these enigmatic groups that survived into the Quaternary. However, their relationship to the living elephantids and the other extinct elephantiformes, such as the mastodons, remains debated. To begin to address this we have used proteomic analysis to sequence the collagen surviving in sub-fossil Notiomastodon bone from the site of Pilauco in Chile. Through the genus-level information retrieved, phylogenetic analyses of the near-complete (85–90%) sequences that were recovered surprisingly revealed a closer relationship between the South American gomphothere (Notiomastodon) and the American mastodon (Mammut) than to the elephantids (Loxodonta, Elephas and Mammuthus), as most commonly proposed; a finding that was consistent across all phylogenetic analyses used, including bayesian, parsimony and máximum likelihood approaches. These results demonstrate the potential information that can be recovered using the ever-increasing applications of proteomics to palaeobiology, particularly for improving our understanding of the evolution of extinct species in a manner consistent with the latest DNA-based approaches.
PB Elsevier
SN 0277-3791, ESSN: 1873-457X
YR 2019
FD 2019-11-15
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/5966
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/5966
LA eng
NO Royal Society
NO NERC
NO CONICYT
DS Docta Complutense
RD 8 abr 2025