Biomolecular analyses reveal the age, sex and species identity of a near-intact Pleistocene bird carcass

Ancient remains found in permafrost represent a rare opportunity to study past ecosystems. Here, we present an exceptionally well-preserved ancient bird carcass found in the Siberian permafrost, along with a radiocarbon date and a reconstruction of its complete mitochondrial genome. The carcass was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications Biology
Main Authors: Dussex, Nicolas, Stanton, David W. G., Sigeman, Hanna, Ericson, Per G. P., Gill, Jacquelyn, Fisher, Daniel C., Protopopov, Albert V., Herridge, Victoria L., Plotnikov, Valery, Hansson, Bengt, Dalén, Love
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group UK 2020
Subjects:
Article
permafrost
Siberia
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7035339/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32081985
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-0806-7
Description
Summary:Ancient remains found in permafrost represent a rare opportunity to study past ecosystems. Here, we present an exceptionally well-preserved ancient bird carcass found in the Siberian permafrost, along with a radiocarbon date and a reconstruction of its complete mitochondrial genome. The carcass was radiocarbon dated to approximately 44–49 ka BP, and was genetically identified as a female horned lark. This is a species that usually inhabits open habitat, such as the steppe environment that existed in Siberia at the time. This near-intact carcass highlights the potential of permafrost remains for evolutionary studies that combine both morphology and ancient nucleic acids.

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