Genomic ancestry of the American puma (Puma concolor)

Puma concolor, a large American cat species, occupies the most extensive ra nge of any New World terrestrial mammal, spanning 110 degrees of latitude f rom the Canadian Yukon to the Straits of Magellan, Until the recent Holocen e, pumas coexisted with a diverse array of carnivores including the America n lion (Panthera atrox), the North American cheetah (Miracynonyx trumani), and the saber toothed tiger (Smilodon fafalis), Genomic DNA specimens from 315 pumas of specified geographic origin (261 contemporary and 54 museum sp ecimens) were collected for molecular genetic and phylogenetic analyses of three mitochondrial gene sequences (16S rRNA, ATPase-8, and NADH-5) plus co mposite microsatellite genotypes (10 feline loci). Six phylogeographic grou pings or subspecies were resolved, and the entire North American population (186 individuals from 15 previously named subspecies) was genetically homo geneous in overall variation relative to central and South American populat ions. The marked uniformity of mtDNA and a reduction in microsatellite alle le size expansion indicates that North American pumas derive from a recent (late Pleistocene circa 10,000 years ago) replacement and recolonization by a small number of founders who themselves originated from a centrum of pum a genetic diversity in eastern South America 200,000-300,000 years ago. The recolonization of North American pumas was coincident with a massive late Pleistocene extinction event that eliminated 80% of large vertebrates in No rth America and may have extirpated pumas from that continent as well.