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Université Montpellier 2

Apport de données d’ADN nucléaire à la Phylogénie et à la Biologie de la Conservation des Ursidae

Abstract

dc:description

Currently, the Ursidae family includes eight bear species. They represent an unusual family within the order of the Carnivores because of their peculiar physiological adaptations related to hibernation. These physiological features, unique in the animal kingdom, make bear a unique model for medical research in full expansion because of its putative clinical applications. This point will be developed in introduction of this manuscript. Surprisingly, the phylogenetic relationships within the extant Ursid representatives remain unclear. In order to clarify their phylogeny, we sequenced 12 nuclear genes for all the Ursid species (nearly 8 kilobases corresponding to 6 genes implied in the pathway of the thyroid hormones, 3 genes specific to the sexual chromosomes, and 3 other autosomal genes). By concatenating these new data with those available in the sequence databanks, phylogenetic reconstructions (maximum likelihood and bayesian analyses) were carried out on a nuclear DNA dataset of 10 kilobases. It was then possible to refine the phylogeny of the Ursidae family. In addition, based on the study of the genes SRY (Sex determining region of the Y chromosome), ZFX/ZFY (Zinc Finger protein) and AMLX/AMLY (Amelogenine), we developed a reliable method to determine the sex of Ursidae based on the analysis of DNA extracted from non invasive samples such as hairs or faeces. If this tool has obvious implication for the conservation biology of Ursidae (most of the extant species are threatened with extinction), it also opens new prospects in palaeontology. This kind of analysis was indeed applied to samples of fossils of North African brown bears (Ursus arctos). The last chapter of this manuscript illustrates how the palaeogenetics can help palaeontology interpreting the variability of fossil forms.

Degree

thesis:*
Grantor dc:publisher
Université Montpellier 2
Year dc:date
2007

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Pagès, Marie
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Hänni, Catherine
  • Jaeger, Jean-Jacques

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • restricted access
  • info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
Language dc:language
fr

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Identifier
info:hdl:2268/139569
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/139569

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Université de Liège
Base URL
orbi.uliege.be/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Pagès, Marie. Apport de données d’ADN nucléaire à la Phylogénie et à la Biologie de la Conservation des Ursidae. Université Montpellier 2, 2007. https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/139569