Phylogenomic evidence for ancient hybridization in the genomes of living cats

This study used genome-scale data to reconstruct felid relationships and uncovered widespread evidence that hybridization shaped cat evolution. By comparing many independent genomic regions, the authors found that gene trees frequently disagreed with the species tree in ways best explained by ancient introgression rather than incomplete lineage sorting alone, particularly within the Panthera group. The work showed that several big cat lineages exchanged genes after they diverged, complicating any strictly bifurcating tree. For taxonomy, the result matters because introgression blurs species boundaries and can mislead phylogenies built from single markers. The paper reinforced the need for genomic, multi-locus approaches to felid classification and helped explain long-standing conflicts between mitochondrial and nuclear gene trees in cats.