Demographic reconstruction from ancient DNA supports rapid extinction of the Great Auk

The great auk was once abundant and distributed across the North Atlantic. It is now extinct, having been heavily exploited for its eggs, meat, and feathers. We investigated the impact of human hunting on its demise by integrating genetic data, GPS-based ocean current data, and analyses of populatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife
Main Authors: Thomas, Jessica E, Carvalho, Gary R., James, Haile, Rawlence, Nicolas J., Martin, Michael David, Ho, Simon Y.W., Sigfússon, Arnór, Jósefsson, Vigfús A., Frederiksen, Morten, Linnebjerg, Jannie F., Castruita, Jose A. Samaniego, Niemann, Jonas, Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S., Sandoval-Velasco, Marcela, Soares, André E.R., Lacy, Robert, Barilaro, Christina, Best, Julia, Brandis, Dirk, Cavallo, Chiara, Elorza, Mikelo, Garrett, Kimball L, Groot, Maaike, Johansson, Friederike, Lifjeld, Jan Terje, Nilson, Göran, Serjeanston, Dale, Sweet, Paul, Fuller, Errol, Hufthammer, Anne Karin, Meldgaard, Morten, Fjeldså, Jon, Shapiro, Beth, Hofreiter, Michael, Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius, Knapp, Michael
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: eLife Sciences Publications 2020
Subjects:
Great auk
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1956/23382
https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.47509
Description
Summary:The great auk was once abundant and distributed across the North Atlantic. It is now extinct, having been heavily exploited for its eggs, meat, and feathers. We investigated the impact of human hunting on its demise by integrating genetic data, GPS-based ocean current data, and analyses of population viability. We sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes of 41 individuals from across the species’ geographic range and reconstructed population structure and population dynamics throughout the Holocene. Taken together, our data do not provide any evidence that great auks were at risk of extinction prior to the onset of intensive human hunting in the early 16th century. In addition, our population viability analyses reveal that even if the great auk had not been under threat by environmental change, human hunting alone could have been sufficient to cause its extinction. Our results emphasise the vulnerability of even abundant and widespread species to intense and localised exploitation. publishedVersion

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