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African antelopes in the ice age

Researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin are investigating how periodic changes in climate during the ice age affected the evolution of large mammals in Africa, especially antelopes. During ice age cold periods, glaciers covered much of the land masses of the northern hemisphere. In the tropics, the climate remained warmer, but instead experienced differences in rainfall.

“In tropical Africa, cold periods were characterized by a dry climate, and there was a lot of precipitation during the warm periods,” explains project manager Faysal Bibi. His team looks at antelope species that are adapted to either dry or more humid habitats. His project examines whether population sizes have increased or decreased according to the prevailing conditions.

Search for traces genomes

Data from the fossil record are currently not sufficient to prove such developments. The team is taking advantage of the fact that changes in population size are also reflected in the variability of the genomes of the species. “Genome analyses enable us to look back over several hundred thousand years and estimate population sizes,” said Bibi.

The genomes investigated in the project are from horse antelopes (Hippotragini), which include the species of the genera Oryx and Addax, adapted to dry habitats, as well as the more water-dependent species of the genus Hippotragus.

Investigation of museum specimens of the extinct bluebuck

The researchers want to reconstruct the genome of the extinct bluebuck (Hippotragus leucophaeus) using samples from museum specimens. “We want to find out whether it was a large and healthy population when European settlers were hunting them at the beginning of the 19th century, or whether the species was already declining due to factors such as climate change” Bibi said.

The addax living in the Sahara could face a similar fate. Only small and isolated populations of the species are believed to exist in the wild today. Addax were also heavily hunted and there are specimens at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin from different parts of its former range. On the basis of the genetic and geographical information, the team can draw conclusions that might also benefit planned conservation and reintroduction programs.

Partners

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG