The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal
Part of a large male woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) was preserved in permafrost in northern Yakutia. It was radiocarbon dated to ca. 18,500 14 C yr BP (ca. 22,500 cal yr BP). Dung from the lower intestine was subjected to a multiproxy array of microscopic, chemical, and molecular technique...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2008.02.004 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589408000203?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589408000203?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400014575 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1016/j.yqres.2008.02.004 2024-09-09T20:03:16+00:00 The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal van Geel, Bas Aptroot, André Baittinger, Claudia Birks, Hilary H. Bull, Ian D. Cross, Hugh B. Evershed, Richard P. Gravendeel, Barbara Kompanje, Erwin J.O. Kuperus, Peter Mol, Dick Nierop, Klaas G.J. Pals, Jan Peter Tikhonov, Alexei N. van Reenen, Guido van Tienderen, Peter H. 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2008.02.004 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589408000203?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589408000203?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400014575 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ Quaternary Research volume 69, issue 03, page 361-376 ISSN 0033-5894 1096-0287 journal-article 2008 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2008.02.004 2024-08-07T04:02:26Z Part of a large male woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) was preserved in permafrost in northern Yakutia. It was radiocarbon dated to ca. 18,500 14 C yr BP (ca. 22,500 cal yr BP). Dung from the lower intestine was subjected to a multiproxy array of microscopic, chemical, and molecular techniques to reconstruct the diet, the season of death, and the paleoenvironment. Pollen and plant macro-remains showed that grasses and sedges were the main food, with considerable amounts of dwarf willow twigs and a variety of herbs and mosses. Analyses of 110-bp fragments of the plastid rbcL gene amplified from DNA and of organic compounds supplemented the microscopic identifications. Fruit-bodies of dung-inhabiting Ascomycete fungi which develop after at least one week of exposure to air were found inside the intestine. Therefore the mammoth had eaten dung. It was probably mammoth dung as no bile acids were detected among the fecal biomarkers analysed. The plant assemblage and the presence of the first spring vessels of terminal tree-rings of dwarf willows indicated that the animal died in early spring. The mammoth lived in extensive cold treeless grassland vegetation interspersed with wetter, more productive meadows. The study demonstrated the paleoecological potential of several biochemical analytical techniques. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Yakutia Cambridge University Press Quaternary Research 69 03 361 376 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Part of a large male woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) was preserved in permafrost in northern Yakutia. It was radiocarbon dated to ca. 18,500 14 C yr BP (ca. 22,500 cal yr BP). Dung from the lower intestine was subjected to a multiproxy array of microscopic, chemical, and molecular techniques to reconstruct the diet, the season of death, and the paleoenvironment. Pollen and plant macro-remains showed that grasses and sedges were the main food, with considerable amounts of dwarf willow twigs and a variety of herbs and mosses. Analyses of 110-bp fragments of the plastid rbcL gene amplified from DNA and of organic compounds supplemented the microscopic identifications. Fruit-bodies of dung-inhabiting Ascomycete fungi which develop after at least one week of exposure to air were found inside the intestine. Therefore the mammoth had eaten dung. It was probably mammoth dung as no bile acids were detected among the fecal biomarkers analysed. The plant assemblage and the presence of the first spring vessels of terminal tree-rings of dwarf willows indicated that the animal died in early spring. The mammoth lived in extensive cold treeless grassland vegetation interspersed with wetter, more productive meadows. The study demonstrated the paleoecological potential of several biochemical analytical techniques. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van Geel, Bas Aptroot, André Baittinger, Claudia Birks, Hilary H. Bull, Ian D. Cross, Hugh B. Evershed, Richard P. Gravendeel, Barbara Kompanje, Erwin J.O. Kuperus, Peter Mol, Dick Nierop, Klaas G.J. Pals, Jan Peter Tikhonov, Alexei N. van Reenen, Guido van Tienderen, Peter H. |
spellingShingle |
van Geel, Bas Aptroot, André Baittinger, Claudia Birks, Hilary H. Bull, Ian D. Cross, Hugh B. Evershed, Richard P. Gravendeel, Barbara Kompanje, Erwin J.O. Kuperus, Peter Mol, Dick Nierop, Klaas G.J. Pals, Jan Peter Tikhonov, Alexei N. van Reenen, Guido van Tienderen, Peter H. The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal |
author_facet |
van Geel, Bas Aptroot, André Baittinger, Claudia Birks, Hilary H. Bull, Ian D. Cross, Hugh B. Evershed, Richard P. Gravendeel, Barbara Kompanje, Erwin J.O. Kuperus, Peter Mol, Dick Nierop, Klaas G.J. Pals, Jan Peter Tikhonov, Alexei N. van Reenen, Guido van Tienderen, Peter H. |
author_sort |
van Geel, Bas |
title |
The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal |
title_short |
The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal |
title_full |
The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal |
title_fullStr |
The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal |
title_sort |
ecological implications of a yakutian mammoth's last meal |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2008.02.004 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589408000203?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589408000203?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400014575 |
genre |
permafrost Yakutia |
genre_facet |
permafrost Yakutia |
op_source |
Quaternary Research volume 69, issue 03, page 361-376 ISSN 0033-5894 1096-0287 |
op_rights |
http://www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2008.02.004 |
container_title |
Quaternary Research |
container_volume |
69 |
container_issue |
03 |
container_start_page |
361 |
op_container_end_page |
376 |
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1809935197586587648 |