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Primate η-globin DNA sequences and man's place among the great apes

Nature volume 319, pages 234–238 (1986)Cite this article

Abstract

Molecular studies indicate that chimpanzee and gorilla are the closest relatives of man (refs 1–7 and refs therein). The small molecular distances found point to late ancestral separations2,4,7, with the most recent being between chimpanzee and man, as judged by DNA hybridization3,8. Kluge9 and Schwartz10 contest these conclusions: morphological characters group a chimpanzee–gorilla clade with the Asian ape orang-utan in Kluge's cladistic study and with an orang-utan–human clade in Schwartz's study. Clearly, extensive sequencing of nuclear DNA is needed to resolve by cladistic analysis the branching order within Hominoidea11. Towards this goal, we are sequencing orthologues of the primate ψη-globin locus12,13. Here, we compare the newly completed sequences of orang-utan and rhesus monkey with human, chimpanzee, gorilla, owl monkey, lemur and goat orthologues. Our findings substantially increase the evidence indicative of a human–chimpanzee–gorilla clade with ancestral separations around 8 to 6 Myr ago. We also verify that neutral hominoid DNA evolved at markedly retarded rates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, 48201, USA

    Ben F. Koop & Morris Goodman

  2. Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

    Peilin Xu, Keith Chan & Jerry L. Slightom

  3. Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 49001, USA

    Jerry L. Slightom

Authors
  1. Ben F. Koop
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  2. Morris Goodman
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  3. Peilin Xu
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  4. Keith Chan
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  5. Jerry L. Slightom
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Koop, B., Goodman, M., Xu, P. et al. Primate η-globin DNA sequences and man's place among the great apes. Nature 319, 234–238 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/319234a0

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