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Ancient DNA reveals late survival of mammoth and horse in interior Alaska

Haile, James, Froese, Duane G., MacPhee, Ross D. E., Roberts, Richard G., Arnold, Lee J., Reyes, Alberto V., Rasmussen, Morten, Nielsen, Rasmus, Brook, Barry W., Robinson, Simon, Demuro, Martina, Gilbert, M. Thomas P., Munch, Kasper, Austin, Jeremy J., Cooper, Alan, Barnes, Ian, Möller, Per, Willerslev, Eske·2009·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.0912510106
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Abstract

Causes of late Quaternary extinctions of large mammals (“megafauna”) continue to be debated, especially for continental losses, because spatial and temporal patterns of extinction are poorly known. Accurate latest appearance dates (LADs) for such taxa are critical for interpreting the process of extinction. The extinction of woolly mammoth and horse in northwestern North America is currently placed at 15,000–13,000 calendar years before present (yr BP), based on LADs from dating surveys of macrofossils (bones and teeth). Advantages of using macrofossils to estimate when a species became extinct are offset, however, by the improbability of finding and dating the remains of the last-surviving members of populations that were restricted in numbers or confined to refugia. Here we report an alternative approach to detect ‘ghost ranges’ of dwindling populations, based on recovery of ancient DNA from perennially frozen and securely dated sediments ( sed aDNA). In such contexts, sed aDNA can reveal the molecular presence of species that appear absent in the macrofossil record. We show that woolly mammoth and horse persisted in interior Alaska until at least 10,500 yr BP, several thousands of years later than indicated from macrofossil surveys. These results contradict claims that Holocene survival of mammoths in Beringia was restricted to ecologically isolated high-latitude islands. More importantly, our finding that mammoth and horse overlapped with humans for several millennia in the region where people initially entered the Americas challenges theories that megafaunal extinction occurred within centuries of human arrival or were due to an extraterrestrial impact in the late Pleistocene.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.0912510106

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  • eDNA has proved a powerful approach to assess first and last appearance of taxa in fossil record.

    “Environmental DNA has proved a powerful approach to assess the first and last appearance of taxa in the fossil record, and it has been applied to investigate the timing of the extinction of woolly mammoths in mainland Alaska 327 and Yukon 326 , and the survival of spruce in Scandinavian refugia during the last Ice Age 130 .”

    From Ancient DNA analysis (2021) · cites this paper as [326]

    The Concluding Remarks (page unavailable) say sedimentary environmental DNA can reveal extinct animals’ latest appearance dates, and the Abstract reports mammoth survival in interior Alaska later than the macrofossil record indicated. Our copy does not establish its use to assess taxa’s first appearances, so that part of the attributed claim is unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • eDNA allows detection of all domains of life, from microbes to vertebrate species, even in absence of macrofossils.

    “One of the great benefits of eDNA is that it allows the detection of all domains of life, from microbes to vertebrate species alike, even in the absence of macrofossils 326,327 .”

    From Ancient DNA analysis (2021) · cites this paper as [326]

    The Abstract (page unavailable) says sedimentary ancient DNA can reveal vertebrates even without identified macrofossils, and the Concluding Remarks report detecting mammoth and horse populations that macrofossil surveys would likely miss. The paper does not establish the broader claim that eDNA detects all domains of life, from microbes to vertebrates; its bacterial DNA mention in the results concerns laboratory contamination. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Current eDNA approaches build on shotgun metagenomics and more economical techniques involving target-enrichment.

    “Current approaches build on shotgun metagenomics 48 and more economical techniques involving target-enrichment 49,326 .”

    From Ancient DNA analysis (2021) · cites this paper as [326]

    In “Sequence Retrieval and Determination” (page not specified), the paper describes using species-specific primers and PCR to obtain selected mitochondrial DNA sequences from sediment samples, supporting it as an example of a targeted eDNA approach. Our copy does not say that this approach is more economical than shotgun metagenomics; citation 326 is attached to the target-enrichment part of the sentence, not the shotgun-metagenomics part. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • eDNA has been applied to investigate timing of extinction of woolly mammoths in mainland Alaska and Yukon.

    “Environmental DNA has proved a powerful approach to assess the first and last appearance of taxa in the fossil record, and it has been applied to investigate the timing of the extinction of woolly mammoths in mainland Alaska 327 and Yukon 326 , and the survival of spruce in Scandinavian refugia during the last Ice Age 130 .”

    From Ancient DNA analysis (2021) · cites this paper as [326]

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Metadata

Authors
Haile, J., Froese, D. G., MacPhee, R. D. E., Roberts, R. G., Arnold, L. J., Reyes, A. V., Rasmussen, M., Nielsen, R., Brook, B. W., Robinson, S., Demuro, M., Gilbert, M. T. P., Munch, K., Austin, J. J., Cooper, A., Barnes, I., Möller, P., & Willerslev, E.
Affiliations
  • Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark;
  • Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada;
  • Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024;
  • Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia;
  • Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720;
  • The Environment Institute, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia;
  • Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia;
  • School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom; and
  • GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Department of Geology/Quaternary Sciences, Lund University, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2009-12-29
Volume
106
Issue
52
Pages
22352-22357
ISSN
  • 0027-8424
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.0912510106
Cited by
235
References
1
Language
en

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