Ancient DNA unravels species identification from Laosicheng site, Hunan Province, China, and provides insights into maternal genetic history of East Asian leopards

Affiliations

• ¹ China-Central Asia "the Belt and Road" Joint Laboratory on Human and Environment Research, Key Laboratory of Cultural Heritage Research and Conservation, School of Culture Heritage, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710127, China.
• ² Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute, Shanghai 200232, China.
• ³ College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710127, China.
• ⁴ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China.
• ⁵ Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute of Hunan, Changsha, Hunan 410083, China. E-mail: 718481364@qq.com.
• ⁶ University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. E-mail: fuqiaomei@ivpp.ac.cn.