Numerous megafauna species from northern latitudes went extinct during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition as a result of climate-induced habitat changes. However, several ungulate species managed to successfully track their habitats during this period to eventually flourish and recolonise the holarctic regions. So far, the genomic impacts of these climate fluctuations on ungulates from high latitudes have been little explored. Here, we assemble a de-novo genome for the European moose (Alces alces) and analyse it together with re-sequenced nuclear genomes and ancient and modern mitogenomes from across the moose range in Eurasia and North America. We found that moose demographic history was greatly influenced by glacial cycles, with demographic responses to the Pleistocene/Holocene transition similar to other temperate ungulates. Our results further support that modern moose lineages trace their origin back to populations that inhabited distinct glacial refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Finally, we found that present day moose in Europe and North America show low to moderate inbreeding levels resulting from post-glacial bottlenecks and founder effects, but no evidence for recent inbreeding resulting from human-induced population declines. Taken together, our results highlight the dynamic recent evolutionary history of the moose and provide an important resource for further genomic studies.

中文翻译：

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驼鹿基因组揭示了过去的冰川人口学和现代血统的起源

由于气候引起的栖息地变化，在更新世/全新世过渡期间，来自北纬的许多大型动物群都灭绝了。但是，在这一时期，一些有蹄类动物成功地追踪了它们的栖息地，最终使蓬勃发展并繁盛起来。到目前为止，尚未探讨这些气候波动对高纬度有蹄类动物的基因组影响。在这里，我们为欧洲驼鹿（Alces alces）组装了一个de-novo基因组，并将其与重测序的核基因组以及来自欧亚大陆和北美整个驼鹿范围的古代和现代有丝分裂基因组一起进行了分析。我们发现驼鹿的人口历史受到冰川周期的很大影响，人口对更新世/全新世过渡的反应类似于其他温带有蹄类动物。我们的结果进一步支持了现代驼鹿谱系的起源可以追溯到上一次冰川最大期（LGM）期间居住于明显的冰川避难所的种群。最后，我们发现，欧洲和北美的当今麋鹿由于冰川后的瓶颈和创始人的影响而显示出近中度近亲繁殖水平，但没有证据表明最近的近亲繁殖是由于人为导致的种群减少所致。两者合计，我们的结果突出了麋的动态近期进化史，并为进一步的基因组研究提供了重要的资源。我们发现，欧洲和北美的当今驼鹿由于冰川后的瓶颈和创始人的影响而显示出近中度近亲繁殖水平，但没有证据表明最近的近亲繁殖是由于人为导致的种群减少所致。两者合计，我们的结果突出了麋的动态近期进化史，并为进一步的基因组研究提供了重要的资源。我们发现，欧洲和北美的当今驼鹿由于冰川后的瓶颈和创始人的影响而显示出近中度近亲繁殖水平，但没有证据表明最近的近亲繁殖是由于人为导致的种群减少所致。两者合计，我们的结果突出了麋的动态近期进化史，并为进一步的基因组研究提供了重要的资源。