The contribution of historical processes to contemporary extinction risk in placental mammals.
Aryn P WilderMegan Ann SuppleAyshwarya SubramanianAnish MudideRoss SwoffordAitor Serres-ArmeroCynthia C SteinerKlaus-Peter KoepfliDiane P GenereuxElinor K KarlssonKerstin Lindblad-TohTomas Marques-BonetVioleta Munoz FuentesKathleen FoleyWynn K Meyernull nullOliver A RyderJoshua D KappGregory AndrewsJoel C ArmstrongMatteo BianchiBruce W BirrenKevin R BredemeyerAna M BreitMatthew J ChristmasHiram ClawsonJoana DamasFederica Di PalmaMark DiekhansMichael X DongEduardo EizirikKaili FanCornelia FanterNicole M FoleyKarin Forsberg-NilssonCarlos J GarciaJohn GatesySteven GazalDiane P GenereuxLinda GoodmanJenna GrimshawMichaela K HalseyAndrew J HarrisGlenn HickeyMichael HillerAllyson G HindleRobert M HubleyGraham M HughesJeremy JohnsonDavid JuanIrene M KaplowElinor K KarlssonKathleen C KeoughBogdan KirilenkoKlaus-Peter KoepfliJennifer M KorstianAmanda KowalczykSergey V KozyrevAlyssa J LawlerColleen LawlessThomas LehmannDanielle L LevesqueHarris A LewinXue LiAbigail LindKerstin Lindblad-TohAva Mackay-SmithVoichita D MarinescuTomas Marques-BonetVictor C MasonJennifer R S MeadowsWynn K MeyerJill E MooreLucas R MoreiraDiana D Moreno-SantillanKathleen M MorrillGerard MuntanéWilliam J MurphyArcadi NavarroMartin NweeiaSylvia OrtmannAustin OsmanskiBenedict PatenNicole S PaulatAndreas R PfenningBaDoi N PhanKatherine S PollardHenry E PrattDavid A RaySteven K ReillyJeb R RosenIrina RufLouise RyanOliver A RyderPardis C SabetiDaniel E SchäfferAitor SerresBeth ShapiroArian F A SmitMark SpringerChaitanya SrinivasanCynthia SteinerJessica M StorerKevin A M SullivanPatrick F SullivanElisabeth SundströmMegan A SuppleRoss SwoffordJoy-El TalbotEmma TeelingJason Turner-MaierAlejandro ValenzuelaFranziska WagnerOla WallermanChao WangJuehan WangZhiping WengAryn P WilderMorgan E WirthlinJames R XueXiaomeng ZhangPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2023)
Species persistence can be influenced by the amount, type, and distribution of diversity across the genome, suggesting a potential relationship between historical demography and resilience. In this study, we surveyed genetic variation across single genomes of 240 mammals that compose the Zoonomia alignment to evaluate how historical effective population size ( N e ) affects heterozygosity and deleterious genetic load and how these factors may contribute to extinction risk. We find that species with smaller historical N e carry a proportionally larger burden of deleterious alleles owing to long-term accumulation and fixation of genetic load and have a higher risk of extinction. This suggests that historical demography can inform contemporary resilience. Models that included genomic data were predictive of species' conservation status, suggesting that, in the absence of adequate census or ecological data, genomic information may provide an initial risk assessment.