Genome-Wide Signatures of Complex Introgression and Adaptive Evolution in the Big Cats

This study analyzed genomes across the genus Panthera and found pervasive evidence of ancient gene flow among the big-cat lineages, demonstrating that their evolution was reticulate rather than strictly tree-like. The authors detected introgression, including signals between the ancestors of lions and other big cats, and identified introgressed regions overlapping genes potentially under selection, such as those affecting vision and metabolism. They argued that hybridization may have transferred adaptive variation between species. The work showed that the big cats exchanged genes during their rapid radiation, complicating simple phylogenies and highlighting introgression as a creative as well as confounding force in felid evolution.