Rewriting the history of an extinction—was a population of Steller's sea cows (Hydrodamalis gigas) at St Lawrence Island also driven to extinction?
The Kommandorskiye Islands population of Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was extirpated ca 1768 CE. Until now, Steller's sea cow was thought to be restricted in historic times to Bering and Copper Islands, Russia, with other records in the last millennium from the western Aleutian I...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4261872 2023-05-15T15:36:00+02:00 Rewriting the history of an extinction—was a population of Steller's sea cows (Hydrodamalis gigas) at St Lawrence Island also driven to extinction? Crerar, Lorelei D. Crerar, Andrew P. Domning, Daryl P. Parsons, E. C. M. 2014-11 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4261872/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25428930 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0878 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4261872/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25428930 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0878 © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Palaeontology Text 2014 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0878 2015-11-08T01:24:13Z The Kommandorskiye Islands population of Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was extirpated ca 1768 CE. Until now, Steller's sea cow was thought to be restricted in historic times to Bering and Copper Islands, Russia, with other records in the last millennium from the western Aleutian Islands. However, Steller's sea cow bone has been obtained by the authors from St Lawrence Island, Alaska, which is significantly further north. Bone identity was verified using analysis of mitochondrial DNA. The nitrogen-15 (δ15N)/carbon-13 (δ13C) values for bone samples from St Lawrence Island were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different from Bering Island samples, indicating a second population. Bone samples were dated to between 1030 and 1150 BP (approx. 800–920 CE). The samples date from close to the beginning of the mediaeval warm period, which could indicate that the population at St Lawrence Island was driven to extinction by climate change. A warming of the climate in the area may have changed the availability of kelp; alternatively or in addition, the animals may have been driven to extinction by the expansion of the Inuit from the Bering Strait region, possibly due to opening waterways, maybe following bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), or searching for iron and copper. This study provides evidence for a previously unknown population of sea cows in the North Pacific within the past 1000 years and a second Steller's sea cow extirpation event in recent history. Text Balaena mysticetus Bering Island Bering Strait Hydrodamalis gigas inuit St Lawrence Island Steller's sea cow Alaska Aleutian Islands PubMed Central (PMC) Bering Strait Lawrence Island ENVELOPE(-103.718,-103.718,56.967,56.967) Pacific Biology Letters 10 11 20140878 |
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Palaeontology |
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Palaeontology Crerar, Lorelei D. Crerar, Andrew P. Domning, Daryl P. Parsons, E. C. M. Rewriting the history of an extinction—was a population of Steller's sea cows (Hydrodamalis gigas) at St Lawrence Island also driven to extinction? |
topic_facet |
Palaeontology |
description |
The Kommandorskiye Islands population of Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was extirpated ca 1768 CE. Until now, Steller's sea cow was thought to be restricted in historic times to Bering and Copper Islands, Russia, with other records in the last millennium from the western Aleutian Islands. However, Steller's sea cow bone has been obtained by the authors from St Lawrence Island, Alaska, which is significantly further north. Bone identity was verified using analysis of mitochondrial DNA. The nitrogen-15 (δ15N)/carbon-13 (δ13C) values for bone samples from St Lawrence Island were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different from Bering Island samples, indicating a second population. Bone samples were dated to between 1030 and 1150 BP (approx. 800–920 CE). The samples date from close to the beginning of the mediaeval warm period, which could indicate that the population at St Lawrence Island was driven to extinction by climate change. A warming of the climate in the area may have changed the availability of kelp; alternatively or in addition, the animals may have been driven to extinction by the expansion of the Inuit from the Bering Strait region, possibly due to opening waterways, maybe following bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), or searching for iron and copper. This study provides evidence for a previously unknown population of sea cows in the North Pacific within the past 1000 years and a second Steller's sea cow extirpation event in recent history. |
format |
Text |
author |
Crerar, Lorelei D. Crerar, Andrew P. Domning, Daryl P. Parsons, E. C. M. |
author_facet |
Crerar, Lorelei D. Crerar, Andrew P. Domning, Daryl P. Parsons, E. C. M. |
author_sort |
Crerar, Lorelei D. |
title |
Rewriting the history of an extinction—was a population of Steller's sea cows (Hydrodamalis gigas) at St Lawrence Island also driven to extinction? |
title_short |
Rewriting the history of an extinction—was a population of Steller's sea cows (Hydrodamalis gigas) at St Lawrence Island also driven to extinction? |
title_full |
Rewriting the history of an extinction—was a population of Steller's sea cows (Hydrodamalis gigas) at St Lawrence Island also driven to extinction? |
title_fullStr |
Rewriting the history of an extinction—was a population of Steller's sea cows (Hydrodamalis gigas) at St Lawrence Island also driven to extinction? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rewriting the history of an extinction—was a population of Steller's sea cows (Hydrodamalis gigas) at St Lawrence Island also driven to extinction? |
title_sort |
rewriting the history of an extinction—was a population of steller's sea cows (hydrodamalis gigas) at st lawrence island also driven to extinction? |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4261872/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25428930 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0878 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-103.718,-103.718,56.967,56.967) |
geographic |
Bering Strait Lawrence Island Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Bering Strait Lawrence Island Pacific |
genre |
Balaena mysticetus Bering Island Bering Strait Hydrodamalis gigas inuit St Lawrence Island Steller's sea cow Alaska Aleutian Islands |
genre_facet |
Balaena mysticetus Bering Island Bering Strait Hydrodamalis gigas inuit St Lawrence Island Steller's sea cow Alaska Aleutian Islands |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4261872/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25428930 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0878 |
op_rights |
© 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0878 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
20140878 |
_version_ |
1766366339815964672 |