Genomic and morphometric data used in a demographic study of Coragyps vultures

<p><span>The New World Vulture</span><span> [<em>Coragyps</em>] <em>occidentalis</em> (L. Miller, 1909) is one of many species that were extinct by the end of the Pleistocene. To understand its </span><span>evolutionary </span><span>history we sequenced the genome of a 14,000-year-old [<em>Coragyps</em>] <em>occidentalis</em> found associated with megaherbivores in the Peruvian Andes. <em>occidentalis</em> has been viewed as the ancestor, or possibly sister, to the extant Black Vulture <em>Coragyps atratus</em>, but </span><span>genomic data shows <em>occidentalis</em> to be deeply nested within the South American clade of<em> atratus</em>. <em>Coragyps atratus</em> inhabits lowlands, but the fossil record indicates that <em>occidentalis</em> mostly occupied high elevations. Our results suggest that<em> occidentalis</em> evolved from a population of <em>atratus</em> </span><span>in southwestern South America </span><span>that colonized the High Andes 300 to 400 kya. The morphological and morphometric differences </span><span>between <em>occidentalis</em> </span><span>and <em>atratus</em> may thus be explained by </span><span>ecological diversification following </span><span>the natural selection imposed by this new and extreme, high-elevation environment. The </span><span>sudden evolution of a population with significantly larger body size and different anatomical proportions than <em>atratus</em> thus constitutes an example of punctuated evolution. </span></p>