Compacted hair in broken teeth reveals dietary prey of historic lions.
| Autor: | de Flamingh A; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. Electronic address: adeflamingh@gmail.com., Gnoske TP; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605-2496, USA., Kerbis Peterhans JC; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605-2496, USA; College of Arts & Sciences, Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL 60605-1394, USA., Simeonovski VA; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605-2496, USA., Gitahi N; Department of Public Health, Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya., Mwebi O; Department of Osteology, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya., Agwanda BR; Department of Osteology, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya., Catchen JM; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, UIUC, Urbana, IL 61801, USA., Roca AL; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Animal Sciences, UIUC, Urbana, IL 61801, USA., Malhi RS; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, UIUC, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Anthropology, UIUC, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. Electronic address: malhi@illinois.edu. |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | Current biology : CB [Curr Biol] 2024 Nov 04; Vol. 34 (21), pp. 5104-5111.e4. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 11. |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2024.09.029 |
| Abstrakt: | With recent advances, nuclear genome data for phylogenomic analyses can now be sequenced from minuscule quantities of DNA 1 and from specimens that are more than a million years old. 2 DNA analysis from hair is a well-established approach 3 widely used in forensic science 4 and wildlife conservation. 5 Hair samples can be effectively decontaminated 6 and can be used to identify the mammalian species from which the hair was shed. 7 , 8 We aimed to use advances optimized for degraded DNA to systematically identify dietary prey species from hair compacted in the teeth of two Tsavo lions that lived during the 1890s in Kenya (see description of samples in the STAR Methods and Patterson 9 and Kerbis Peterhans and Gnoske 10 for background on the Tsavo "man-eaters"). Analysis of hair DNA identified giraffe, human, oryx, waterbuck, wildebeest, and zebra as prey and also identified hair that originated from lion. DNA preservation allowed for analyses of complete mitogenome profiles of zebra, giraffe, and lion. Giraffe mitogenomes are phylogeographically partitioned, and we found that the lions ate at least two individuals that belong to a subspecies of Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi tippelskirchi) typically found in southeast Kenya. The lion mitogenome from a hair sample was identical to the Tsavo lion endogenous mitogenome and most closely matched other East African lions from Kenya and Tanzania. Our approach enables a better understanding of the hunting behaviors, diets, and ecology of historical individuals, populations, and species and holds promise for extinct populations and species. Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests. (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|