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Melin, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Melin, A..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

A phylogenetic protein-coding genome-phenome map of complex traits across 224 primate species.

Complex traits arise from networks of coding and regulatory loci, making it difficult to resolve their genetic basis. Macroevolutionary studies leverage tens of millions of years of divergence across species to uncover fixed genomic changes invisible to within-species approaches, such as GWAS, offering a complementary framework for generating hypotheses in biomedical research. Here, we present the first phylogenetic protein-coding primate-wide genome-phenome map (P3GMap), spanning 200 curated traits across 224 primate species, which we release through the Primate Genome-Phenome Archive (PGA, https://pgarchive.github.io). Using two complementary approaches, convergent amino acid substitutions and relative evolutionary rates, we linked protein-coding variation to complex phenotypes and identified thousands of candidate gene-trait associations, including lineage-specific signals related to diet, immunity, and lifespan. One sentence summaryCross-species genome-phenome mapping in primates reveals thousands of protein-coding variants linked to the evolution of complex traits.

evolutionary biology↗

The platyrrhine primate Cebus imitator uses gaze to adjust grasp posture for food handling and withdraw to the mouth

Orienting a food item held in the hand to withdraw it to the mouth for eating is mediated by vision in catarrhine anthropoids and by nonvisual strategies in strepsirrhines. The present study asks whether vision contributes to the withdraw in a platyrrhine anthropoid, a member of a monophyletic primate suborder whose stem group diverged from catarrhines about 40 million years ago. We examined gaze and hand use in arboreal fruit picking by the Costa Rican capuchin, Cebus imitator, a platyrrhine known for its skilled object-handling and tool use. Videos clips of reach, grasp and withdraw movements and associated gaze were examined frame-by-frame to assess hand shaping and sensory control of eating. Cebus imitator used vision and touch to reach for and grasp food items with precision or whole hand grasps. They used vision to orient food items held inhand into a precision grip and their withdraw of food items to the mouth was assisted with a vertically oriented hand. The conjoint use of vision, grasp and hand posture by capuchins is discussed in relation to the staged evolution of visual manipulation of objects, one of which is featured in this platyrrhine primate.

evolutionary biology↗