Data from: Lineage-independent retrotransposition of UTP14 associated with male fertility has occurred multiple times throughout mammalian evolution

In mammals, gamete production is essential for reproductive success. This
is particularly true for males where large quantities of sperm are
produced to fertilize a limited number of eggs released by the female.
Because of this, new genes associated with increased spermatogenic
efficiency have been accumulating throughout the evolution of therian
mammals. Many of these new genes are testis-specific retrotransposed
copies of housekeeping genes located on the X chromosome. Of particular
interest are retrotransposed copies of UTP14 that are present in many
distantly related eutherian mammals. Analysis of genomic data available in
ENSEMBL indicates that these UTP14 retrogenes have arisen independently in
the various eutherian clades. They represent an interesting aspect of
evolution whereby new homologues of UTP14 have become independently fixed
in multiple mammalian lineages due to the reproductive advantage that may
be conferred to males. Surprisingly, these genes may also be lost, even
after being present within a lineage for millions of years. This
phenomenon may potentially be used to delineate evolutionary trees in
closely related groups of mammals, particularly in the case of South
American primates. Studying these retrogenes will yield new insights into
the evolutionary history of male gamete production and the phylogeny of
eutherian mammals.