The extinct Sicilian wolf shows a complex history of isolation and admixture with ancient dogs

Marta Maria Ciucani; Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal; Germán Hernández-Alonso; Alberto Carmagnini; Sabhrina Gita Aninta; Xin Sun; Camilla Hjorth Scharff-Olsen; Liam Thomas Lanigan; Ilaria Fracasso; Cecilie G. Clausen; Jouni Aspi; Ilpo Kojola; Laima Baltrūnaitė; Linas Balčiauskas; Jane Moore; Mikael Åkesson; Urmas Saarma; Maris Hindrikson; Pavel Hulva; Barbora Černá Bolfíková; Carsten Nowak; Raquel Godinho; Steve Smith; Ladislav Paule; Sabina Nowak; Robert W. Mysłajek; Sabrina Lo Brutto; Paolo Ciucci; Luigi Boitani; Cristiano Vernesi; Hans K. Stenøien; Oliver Smith; Laurent Frantz; Lorenzo Rossi; Francesco Maria Angelici; Elisabetta Cilli; Mikkel Holger S. Sinding; M. Thomas P. Gilbert; Shyam Gopalakrishnan

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107307

The extinct Sicilian wolf shows a complex history of isolation and admixture with ancient dogs

Marta Maria Ciucani^*, Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal, Germán Hernández-Alonso, Alberto Carmagnini, Sabhrina Gita Aninta, Xin Sun, Camilla Hjorth Scharff-Olsen, Liam Thomas Lanigan, Ilaria Fracasso, Cecilie G. Clausen, Jouni Aspi, Ilpo Kojola, Laima Baltrūnaitė, Linas Balčiauskas, Jane Moore, Mikael Åkesson, Urmas Saarma, Maris Hindrikson, Pavel Hulva, Barbora Černá BolfíkováCarsten Nowak, Raquel Godinho, Steve Smith, Ladislav Paule, Sabina Nowak, Robert W. Mysłajek, Sabrina Lo Brutto, Paolo Ciucci, Luigi Boitani, Cristiano Vernesi, Hans K. Stenøien, Oliver Smith, Laurent Frantz, Lorenzo Rossi, Francesco Maria Angelici, Elisabetta Cilli, Mikkel Holger S. Sinding, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Shyam Gopalakrishnan

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

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Abstract

The Sicilian wolf remained isolated in Sicily from the end of the Pleistocene until its extermination in the 1930s–1960s. Given its long-term isolation on the island and distinctive morphology, the genetic origin of the Sicilian wolf remains debated. We sequenced four nuclear genomes and five mitogenomes from the seven existing museum specimens to investigate the Sicilian wolf ancestry, relationships with extant and extinct wolves and dogs, and diversity. Our results show that the Sicilian wolf is most closely related to the Italian wolf but carries ancestry from a lineage related to European Eneolithic and Bronze Age dogs. The average nucleotide diversity of the Sicilian wolf was half of the Italian wolf, with 37–50% of its genome contained in runs of homozygosity. Overall, we show that, by the time it went extinct, the Sicilian wolf had high inbreeding and low-genetic diversity, consistent with a population in an insular environment.

Original language	English
Article number	107307
Journal	iScience
Volume	26
Issue number	8
Number of pages	22
ISSN	2589-0042
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107307
Publication status	Published - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Keywords

Canine genetics
Evolutionary biology

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Ciucani, M. M., Ramos-Madrigal, J., Hernández-Alonso, G., Carmagnini, A., Aninta, S. G., Sun, X., Scharff-Olsen, C. H., Lanigan, L. T., Fracasso, I., Clausen, C. G., Aspi, J., Kojola, I., Baltrūnaitė, L., Balčiauskas, L., Moore, J., Åkesson, M., Saarma, U., Hindrikson, M., Hulva, P., ... Gopalakrishnan, S. (2023). The extinct Sicilian wolf shows a complex history of isolation and admixture with ancient dogs. iScience, 26(8), [107307]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107307

The extinct Sicilian wolf shows a complex history of isolation and admixture with ancient dogs. / Ciucani, Marta Maria; Ramos-Madrigal, Jazmín; Hernández-Alonso, Germán; Carmagnini, Alberto; Aninta, Sabhrina Gita; Sun, Xin ; Scharff-Olsen, Camilla Hjorth ; Lanigan, Liam Thomas; Fracasso, Ilaria; Clausen, Cecilie G.; Aspi, Jouni; Kojola, Ilpo; Baltrūnaitė, Laima; Balčiauskas, Linas; Moore, Jane; Åkesson, Mikael; Saarma, Urmas; Hindrikson, Maris; Hulva, Pavel; Bolfíková, Barbora Černá; Nowak, Carsten; Godinho, Raquel; Smith, Steve; Paule, Ladislav; Nowak, Sabina; Mysłajek, Robert W.; Lo Brutto, Sabrina; Ciucci, Paolo; Boitani, Luigi; Vernesi, Cristiano; Stenøien, Hans K.; Smith, Oliver; Frantz, Laurent; Rossi, Lorenzo; Angelici, Francesco Maria; Cilli, Elisabetta; Sinding, Mikkel Holger S.; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam.

In: iScience, Vol. 26, No. 8, 107307, 2023.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Ciucani, MM, Ramos-Madrigal, J, Hernández-Alonso, G, Carmagnini, A, Aninta, SG, Sun, X , Scharff-Olsen, CH , Lanigan, LT, Fracasso, I, Clausen, CG, Aspi, J, Kojola, I, Baltrūnaitė, L, Balčiauskas, L, Moore, J, Åkesson, M, Saarma, U, Hindrikson, M, Hulva, P, Bolfíková, BČ, Nowak, C, Godinho, R, Smith, S, Paule, L, Nowak, S, Mysłajek, RW, Lo Brutto, S, Ciucci, P, Boitani, L, Vernesi, C, Stenøien, HK, Smith, O, Frantz, L, Rossi, L, Angelici, FM, Cilli, E, Sinding, MHS , Gilbert, MTP & Gopalakrishnan, S 2023, 'The extinct Sicilian wolf shows a complex history of isolation and admixture with ancient dogs', iScience, vol. 26, no. 8, 107307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107307

Ciucani, Marta Maria ; Ramos-Madrigal, Jazmín ; Hernández-Alonso, Germán ; Carmagnini, Alberto ; Aninta, Sabhrina Gita ; Sun, Xin ; Scharff-Olsen, Camilla Hjorth ; Lanigan, Liam Thomas ; Fracasso, Ilaria ; Clausen, Cecilie G. ; Aspi, Jouni ; Kojola, Ilpo ; Baltrūnaitė, Laima ; Balčiauskas, Linas ; Moore, Jane ; Åkesson, Mikael ; Saarma, Urmas ; Hindrikson, Maris ; Hulva, Pavel ; Bolfíková, Barbora Černá ; Nowak, Carsten ; Godinho, Raquel ; Smith, Steve ; Paule, Ladislav ; Nowak, Sabina ; Mysłajek, Robert W. ; Lo Brutto, Sabrina ; Ciucci, Paolo ; Boitani, Luigi ; Vernesi, Cristiano ; Stenøien, Hans K. ; Smith, Oliver ; Frantz, Laurent ; Rossi, Lorenzo ; Angelici, Francesco Maria ; Cilli, Elisabetta ; Sinding, Mikkel Holger S. ; Gilbert, M. Thomas P. ; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam. / The extinct Sicilian wolf shows a complex history of isolation and admixture with ancient dogs. In: iScience. 2023 ; Vol. 26, No. 8.

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abstract = "The Sicilian wolf remained isolated in Sicily from the end of the Pleistocene until its extermination in the 1930s–1960s. Given its long-term isolation on the island and distinctive morphology, the genetic origin of the Sicilian wolf remains debated. We sequenced four nuclear genomes and five mitogenomes from the seven existing museum specimens to investigate the Sicilian wolf ancestry, relationships with extant and extinct wolves and dogs, and diversity. Our results show that the Sicilian wolf is most closely related to the Italian wolf but carries ancestry from a lineage related to European Eneolithic and Bronze Age dogs. The average nucleotide diversity of the Sicilian wolf was half of the Italian wolf, with 37–50% of its genome contained in runs of homozygosity. Overall, we show that, by the time it went extinct, the Sicilian wolf had high inbreeding and low-genetic diversity, consistent with a population in an insular environment.",

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AU - Ciucani, Marta Maria

AU - Ramos-Madrigal, Jazmín

AU - Hernández-Alonso, Germán

AU - Carmagnini, Alberto

AU - Aninta, Sabhrina Gita

AU - Sun, Xin

AU - Scharff-Olsen, Camilla Hjorth

AU - Lanigan, Liam Thomas

AU - Fracasso, Ilaria

AU - Clausen, Cecilie G.

AU - Aspi, Jouni

AU - Kojola, Ilpo

AU - Baltrūnaitė, Laima

AU - Balčiauskas, Linas

AU - Moore, Jane

AU - Åkesson, Mikael

AU - Saarma, Urmas

AU - Hindrikson, Maris

AU - Hulva, Pavel

AU - Bolfíková, Barbora Černá

AU - Nowak, Carsten

AU - Godinho, Raquel

AU - Smith, Steve

AU - Paule, Ladislav

AU - Nowak, Sabina

AU - Mysłajek, Robert W.

AU - Lo Brutto, Sabrina

AU - Ciucci, Paolo

AU - Boitani, Luigi

AU - Vernesi, Cristiano

AU - Stenøien, Hans K.

AU - Smith, Oliver

AU - Frantz, Laurent

AU - Rossi, Lorenzo

AU - Angelici, Francesco Maria

AU - Cilli, Elisabetta

AU - Sinding, Mikkel Holger S.

AU - Gilbert, M. Thomas P.

AU - Gopalakrishnan, Shyam

PY - 2023

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N2 - The Sicilian wolf remained isolated in Sicily from the end of the Pleistocene until its extermination in the 1930s–1960s. Given its long-term isolation on the island and distinctive morphology, the genetic origin of the Sicilian wolf remains debated. We sequenced four nuclear genomes and five mitogenomes from the seven existing museum specimens to investigate the Sicilian wolf ancestry, relationships with extant and extinct wolves and dogs, and diversity. Our results show that the Sicilian wolf is most closely related to the Italian wolf but carries ancestry from a lineage related to European Eneolithic and Bronze Age dogs. The average nucleotide diversity of the Sicilian wolf was half of the Italian wolf, with 37–50% of its genome contained in runs of homozygosity. Overall, we show that, by the time it went extinct, the Sicilian wolf had high inbreeding and low-genetic diversity, consistent with a population in an insular environment.

AB - The Sicilian wolf remained isolated in Sicily from the end of the Pleistocene until its extermination in the 1930s–1960s. Given its long-term isolation on the island and distinctive morphology, the genetic origin of the Sicilian wolf remains debated. We sequenced four nuclear genomes and five mitogenomes from the seven existing museum specimens to investigate the Sicilian wolf ancestry, relationships with extant and extinct wolves and dogs, and diversity. Our results show that the Sicilian wolf is most closely related to the Italian wolf but carries ancestry from a lineage related to European Eneolithic and Bronze Age dogs. The average nucleotide diversity of the Sicilian wolf was half of the Italian wolf, with 37–50% of its genome contained in runs of homozygosity. Overall, we show that, by the time it went extinct, the Sicilian wolf had high inbreeding and low-genetic diversity, consistent with a population in an insular environment.

KW - Canine genetics

KW - Evolutionary biology

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DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107307

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