Gelada genomes highlight events of gene flow, hybridisation and local adaptation that track past climatic changes

2024/08/29 by Matteo Caldon, Giacomo Mutti, Alessandro Mondanaro +9 · 1 voice · 3 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Animal Genetics and Reproduction #Seed and Plant Biochemistry

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/mec.17514

openalex publication_date 2024/08/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

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.

Citations

• Independent amylase gene copy number bursts correlate with dietary preferences in mammals
• Genomic signatures of high-altitude adaptation and chromosomal polymorphism in geladas
• A protocol for data exploration to avoid common statistical problems
• Where is positional uncertainty a problem for species distribution modelling?
• WorldClim 2: new 1‐km spatial resolution climate surfaces for global land areas
• IQ-TREE 2: New Models and Efficient Methods for Phylogenetic Inference in the Genomic Era
• GetOrganelle: a fast and versatile toolkit for accurate de novo assembly of organelle genomes
• clusterProfiler 4.0: A universal enrichment tool for interpreting omics data

Cited by

• Behavioural adaptability of wild geladas (Theropithecus gelada) in human-impacted areas revealed by encounters with free-roaming dogs and potential threats
• Evolution of craniofacial shape in relation to sexual dimorphism in Theropithecus and Papio
• On the origin of the Theropithecus gelada specimens from the Field Museum 1926–1927 Abyssinian expedition: a case for the extended specimen approach

Discussions

• Caldon et al. (2024) sequenced genomes from the 3 major gelada pops (north, central & south) & found S pops have + pancreatic amylase gene copy #. More tuber consumption when grass is scarce may serve [bsky, 12 points, 0 comments]

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