| Functional |
"Adaptive nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) of placental mammals is predominantly mediated by uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), which resides at high levels in the mitochondrial inner membrane of brown adipose tissue (BAT) (1)." |
10.1126/sciadv.1602878 |
| Timing of Loss |
"We estimate that ucp1 inactivation in Cetacea occurred soon after their divergence from hippopotamids (~52.75 Ma) and document the complete deletion of this locus in delphinids (Fig. 2B) by the Late Miocene. These findings directly contradict recent claims of UCP1 expression in blubber of four delphinoid species (48) (which we attribute to unspecific antibody hybridization to UCP1 paralogs in this tissue) and intact UCP1 proteins in the genomes of six cetacean species [including bottlenose dolphin and killer whale (49)]." |
10.1126/sciadv.1602878 |