Introducing Michael Vincent Westbury, an evolutionary biologist trained in genetics. His main focuses are palaeogenomics, and population genomics. I spoke to Michael about his latest research, which was recently published on Open Research Europe.
What is your research about?
Our newest research involved sequencing the first draft genome of the extinct sabre-toothed cat, Smilodon (the dirk-toothed cat). We analysed this genome together with those from a large dataset of living cat species, as well as the genome of another extinct sabre-toothed cat, Homotherium (the scimitar-toothed cat). We set out to understand the relationship of Smilodon to living and extinct cat species to better understand the origins of the Felidae cat family which has been difficult to resolve.
“We found that the extinct sabre-toothed cats are not only very different from all living cat species but also very different from one another.”
What inspired you to investigate this?
Extinct sabre-tooth cats are very well known within popular culture. However, due to their relative scarcity in the fossil record, we do not know much about their evolutionary history and their relationships to living cat species. By sequencing the genome of the extinct Smilodon, we hoped to shed further light on the origins of this interesting lost beast.
What impact will this have?
While it is exciting to sequence the genome of the Smilodon, the production of this genome in general also represents how far sequencing technologies have come and the impressive amounts of genetic data we can get from subfossil material. Most ancient DNA studies have focused on material from less temperate regions such as Northern Eurasia.
However, our study shows that subfossils from more temperate regions of South America contain sufficient DNA from whole genome generation. So many interesting and unique species native to South America have recently gone extinct. Hopefully our study will set the ground for future palaeogenomic studies in more temperate regions.
What are the next steps?
My next steps are to acquire more funding and sequence more palaeogenomes from unique South American species to better understand their evolutionary relationships.
Why did you choose to publish with Open Research Europe?
Open Research Europe offered an exciting new opportunity to present our research in a fully open access manner, including the review process, ensuring the quality of research remains high and is available to a wide readership. For these reasons, we thought it would be interesting to try the new platform.
