Aligned and curated mtDNA sequences from: Ancient DNA reveals interstadials as a driver of common vole population dynamics during the last glacial period

Aim: Many species experienced population turnover and local extinction during the Late Pleistocene. In the case of megafauna, it remains challenging to disentangle climate change and the activities of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers as the main cause. In contrast, the impact of humans on rodent populations is likely to be negligible. This study investigated which climatic and/or environmental factors affect the population dynamics of the common vole. This temperate rodent is widespread across Europe and was one of the most abundant small mammal species throughout the Late Pleistocene.

Location: Europe

Taxon: Common vole (Microtus arvalis)

Methods: We generated a dataset comprised of a 4.2-kb-long fragment of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 148 ancient and 51 modern specimens sampled from multiple localities across Europe and covering the last 60 thousand years (ka). We used Bayesian inference to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships and to estimate the age of the specimens that were not directly dated.

Results: We estimated the time to the most recent common ancestor of all last glacial and extant common vole lineages to be 90 ka ago and the divergence of the main mtDNA lineages present in extant populations to between 55 and 40 ka ago, which is earlier than previous estimates. We detected several lineage turnovers in Europe during the period of high climate variability at the end of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3; 57–29 ka ago) in addition to those found previously around the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. In contrast, data from the Western Carpathians suggest continuity throughout the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), even at high latitudes.

Main conclusions: The main factor affecting the common vole populations during the last glacial period was the decrease in open habitat during the interstadials, whereas climate deterioration during the LGM had little impact on population dynamics. This suggests that the rapid environmental change rather than other factors was the major force shaping the histories of the Late Pleistocene faunas.

Methods
This is a curated alignment of ca. 4.2 kb fragment of mtDNA of ancient and modern common voles (M.arvalis). Indels around polinucleotide tracts were removed.

研究目的：更新世晚期（Late Pleistocene）期间，诸多物种均经历了种群更替与局部灭绝事件。对于大型动物群（megafauna）而言，厘清气候变化与旧石器时代狩猎采集者活动究竟何为其主要驱动因素仍颇具挑战。与之形成鲜明对比的是，人类对啮齿类动物种群的影响或可忽略不计。本研究旨在探究哪些气候及/或环境因素会影响普通田鼠（common vole, *Microtus arvalis*）的种群动态。这种温带啮齿类动物广泛分布于欧洲全境，且在整个更新世晚期均为数量最为繁盛的小型哺乳动物类群之一。
研究区域：欧洲
研究类群：普通田鼠（*Microtus arvalis*）
研究方法：我们从欧洲多个采样点获取了覆盖过去6万年（ka）的148件古代标本与51件现代标本，从中扩增得到长度为4.2 kb的线粒体DNA（mitochondrial DNA, mtDNA）片段，进而构建本研究数据集。我们采用贝叶斯推断法重建其系统发育关系，并对未直接定年的标本进行年龄估算。
研究结果：我们估算得到，所有末次冰期及现生普通田鼠支系的最近共同祖先时间距今约9万年（ka），而现生种群中主要线粒体DNA支系的分化时间则介于5.5万年至4万年（ka）之前，这一时间早于此前的相关估算结果。除此前在更新世/全新世过渡阶段发现的支系更替事件外，我们还在海洋同位素阶段3（Marine Isotope Stage 3, MIS 3；5.7万~2.9万年前）末期气候高变期的欧洲区域内检测到多起支系更替事件。与之形成对比的是，西喀尔巴阡山脉的相关数据显示，即便在高纬度区域，该区域种群在末次盛冰期（Last Glacial Maximum, LGM）期间仍保持了种群延续性。
主要结论：末次冰期期间影响普通田鼠种群的核心因素为间冰阶期开阔生境的缩减，而末次盛冰期的气候恶化对其种群动态几乎未产生显著影响。该结果表明，驱动更新世晚期动物群演化历史的主要力量为快速的环境变化，而非其他因素。
方法说明：本数据集为经整理校正的古代与现代普通田鼠（*M. arvalis*）约4.2 kb长度的线粒体DNA片段比对序列。我们移除了多核苷酸重复区域周围的插入缺失（indels）序列。