The woolly rhinoceros was a prominent Ice Age megafaunal species, and there is limited knowledge regarding its origin and responses to past glacial cycles. We sequenced 29 mitochondrial and 14 nuclear genomes from Pleistocene specimens across Eurasia and ...

Summary Ancient DNA studies are increasingly targeting samples that are beyond the limit of radiocarbon dating (>50 thousand years old) and are often difficult or impossible to date using other geochr...

After the last ice age, species migrated into a newly deglaciated Scandinavia. Brown bear recolonization is thought to have occurred from two direc...

Background The Norwegian lemming (Lemmus lemmus) is a small rodent endemic to the Fennoscandian alpine and arctic tundra. The species is known for cyclic population outbreaks and mass movements during peak years. Previous research based on microsatellites revealed high genetic variation but a weak population structure in the Norwegian lemming. Results In this study, we revisit the population structure of the species using genome-wide data. To do this, we generated a high-quality de novo reference genome for Lemmus lemmus, and resequenced genomes to 2.5–5 × coverage, from 86 lemmings sampled across the species’ entire geographic distribution. Our results reveal that the population is geographically structured into distinct subpopulations, with an overall pattern characterised by isolation-by-distance among subpopulations. Furthermore, our results are consistent with earlier work suggesting that the species survived the last ice age within a northern refugium. Conclusions Together, these findings provide a genome-wide perspective on today’s population structure of the Norwegian lemming. In addition, we provide a de novo reference genome, which we believe will be a valuable resource to the research community.

Abstract. After the last ice age, the brown bear (Ursus arctos) recolonized Scandinavia, likely from two different source populations, resulting in two sub

Two archaeological cultural complexes coexisted on Gotland for over 500 years, between ~3300 and 2800 calBCE, i.e. the Neolithic Funnelbeaker culture (FBC), and the Pitted ware culture (PWC). The ance...

The genomes of 28 ancient southern African individuals dated to between 10,200 and 150 years before present offer insights into the evolution of Homo sapiens.