moa https://scienceblogs.com/ en Where are all the males? - ancient DNA raises questions about extinct moa populations https://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2010/05/04/where-are-all-the-males-figu <span>Where are all the males? - ancient DNA raises questions about extinct moa populations</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p class="center"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/wp-content/blogs.dir/435/files/2012/04/i-e6c6b1883ae40b271d4f382430d79ce7-moas-thumb-492x472-48310.jpg" alt="i-e6c6b1883ae40b271d4f382430d79ce7-moas-thumb-492x472-48310.jpg" /><br /> <br /><br /> </p><center>The skeletons of female (larger, background) and male (smaller, foreground) <i>Dinornis robustus</i>, with a pigeon skeleton for comparison. From Allentoft et al 2010.</center><br /> <br /> <p><span style="float: left; padding: 5px;"><a href="http://www.researchblogging.org"><img alt="ResearchBlogging.org" src="http://www.researchblogging.org/public/citation_icons/rb2_large_gray.png" style="border:0;" /></a></span></p> <p>A little more than 700 years ago, multiple species of the gigantic, flightless birds called moas were still running around New Zealand. They ranged over almost the entirety of the North and South Islands, from the coast to the mountain forests, but when the Maori people arrived in the late 13th century the birds were quickly driven to extinction. Within a few hundred years they were entirely wiped out (along with the immense <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haast%27s_Eagle">Haast's eagle</a>, which fed on the moas), but fortunately for scientists these birds left behind vast accumulations of bones.</p> <p>Two such moa graveyards are the Pyramid Valley and Bell Hill Vineyard sites on South Island. Together they record the presence of four moa species (<em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinornis_robustus">Dinornis robustus</a></em>, <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeus_crassus">Emeus crassus</a></em>, <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euryapteryx_curtus">Euryapteryx curtus</a></em>, <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachyornis_elephantopus">Pachyornis elephantopus</a></em>) over the course of the 3,000 years prior to the arrival of the Maori, and these sites presented scientists with the opportunity to recover ancient DNA from a large sample of bones to investigate the population genetics of the birds, including the sex of each individual. As they collected and analyzed the genetic data, however, they found something they were not expecting. In each species and across both deposits, females, which are considerably larger and heavier than males, were significantly more common, with an average of five females for every one male out of a sample of 227. What could could account for this disparity?</p> <!--more--><p class="center"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/wp-content/blogs.dir/435/files/2012/04/i-eef6be2c0dd353759348d1f5e3683714-moa-populations-thumb-471x442-48312.jpg" alt="i-eef6be2c0dd353759348d1f5e3683714-moa-populations-thumb-471x442-48312.jpg" /><br /> <br /><br /> </p><center>Breakdown of moa population dynamics at the two South Island sites. The top chart shows the occurrence of each species of moa and the bottom chart shows the number of males and females at each site. From Allentoft et al 2010.</center><br /> <br /> <p>The authors of the new study consider two scenarios. The first is that many males died as subadults or adults, hence creating an excess of females. Among large flightless birds it is common for males to care for the young, something which requires a large energetic investment, and it may be that many males were quickly "burnt out" by their parental responsibilities. If this was the case, the deposits at each site could be taken as an accurate reflection of the moa populations which lived in the area.</p> <p>The alternative hypothesis is that females were somehow more likely to become preserved at the Pyramid Valley and Bell Hill Vineyard sites. Even though females outnumbered males at both sites, the ratios significantly differed between them despite representing the same time period and being only about six kilometers apart. The authors take this as a sign that there was some kind of bias which skewed the sex ratios in the sample, perhaps being the behaviors of the moas themselves. Since the area was near a waterhole, a valuable resource, large female moas may have driven off many of the males, or males may have been incubating eggs elsewhere at the time the deposits were made.</p> <p>These hypotheses are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Male moas may very well have suffered higher mortality as a result of rearing offspring and also been less numerous in the area (either because of parenting duties or being driven off by females) during the time periods when bones were deposited at the sites. Further studies of bone accumulations from different kinds of depositional environments will be required to better understand the population dynamics of moas. Even so, it is amazing that such a level of resolution can be achieved through a combination of genetic and fossil information, and such interdisciplinary efforts will undoubtedly help us to better understand the lives of these unique, extinct birds.</p> <p><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.jtitle=Quaternary+Science+Reviews&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1016%2Fj.quascirev.2009.11.022&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fresearchblogging.org&amp;rft.atitle=Highly+skewed+sex+ratios+and+biased+fossil+deposition+of+moa%3A+ancient+DNA+provides+new+insight+on+New+Zealand%27s+extinct+megafauna&amp;rft.issn=02773791&amp;rft.date=2010&amp;rft.volume=29&amp;rft.issue=5-6&amp;rft.spage=753&amp;rft.epage=762&amp;rft.artnum=http%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0277379109003953&amp;rft.au=Allentoft%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Bunce%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Scofield%2C+R.&amp;rft.au=Hale%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Holdaway%2C+R.&amp;rfe_dat=bpr3.included=1;bpr3.tags=Biology%2CGeosciences%2CZoology%2C+Ecology%2C+Biogeosciences%2C+Genetics">Allentoft, M., Bunce, M., Scofield, R., Hale, M., &amp; Holdaway, R. (2010). Highly skewed sex ratios and biased fossil deposition of moa: ancient DNA provides new insight on New Zealand's extinct megafauna <span style="font-style: italic;">Quaternary Science Reviews, 29</span> (5-6), 753-762 DOI: <a rev="review" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.11.022">10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.11.022</a></span></p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/laelaps" lang="" about="/laelaps" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">laelaps</a></span> <span>Tue, 05/04/2010 - 05:53</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/behavior" hreflang="en">behavior</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/birds" hreflang="en">birds</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/paleontology" hreflang="en">paleontology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/taphonomy" hreflang="en">taphonomy</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/bird" hreflang="en">bird</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/dna" hreflang="en">DNA</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/flightless" hreflang="en">flightless</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/fossil" hreflang="en">fossil</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genetics" hreflang="en">genetics</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/moa" hreflang="en">moa</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/new-zealand" hreflang="en">New Zealand</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/population" hreflang="en">population</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/behavior" hreflang="en">behavior</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/birds" hreflang="en">birds</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/taphonomy" hreflang="en">taphonomy</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260207" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1272973462"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I haven't read the paper yet, but I won't let that stop me from firing a speculative suggestion off from the hip: perhaps the larger, heavier females were more likely to become mired around the edges of the waterhole, while the smaller, more nimble males tip-toed across the mud without getting stuck?</p> <p>Now off to read the paper and discover why my "explanation" sucks......</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260207&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="K0W4zeabS8bWErQMD-T3husymVAjQtg-RAoHtzrKIE4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Dave Hughes (not verified)</span> on 04 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260207">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260208" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1272987742"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I don't understand how the first scenario is supposed to work - even if the males die younger, all individuals died sooner or later, so there should be equal numbers of dead moa of each gender around (assuming the birth ratio was approximately 50:50), even if there, at any given time, where a substantial surplus of <i>living</i> females around.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260208&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="cKFOlpR297N5HUzhJ4BK_ytzLzilWj6pEJLpV6OgIbY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Andreas Johansson (not verified)</span> on 04 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260208">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260209" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1272991081"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I agree with Andreas and this is what crossed my mind. The male Moa still died so therefore they would still have created fossils. Which makes me think they died in areas where they were not able to be preserved, which fits with the second hypothesis.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260209&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="JsZ5wqVo7dMjgXBMJYxb5e4TWWpmt4bapZanZMxTERA"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.fishschooled.blogspot.com" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Daniel Bassett (not verified)</a> on 04 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260209">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260210" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1272994879"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Not a scientist, but on comment no 2, I thought the point about males dying young might have been that smaller fossils are more fragile and thus more likely to disappear or disintegrate through natural processes (rain, wind, even earth movements). Not having read the paper I don't know whether that possibility would match up with the environment described.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260210&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="G7oRqUmD_nWDhvGz_zDjcbGG6cMbjRyIgQ2RyiQCHbU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">zackoz (not verified)</span> on 04 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260210">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260211" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1272995171"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Those are some very interesting observations and ideas.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260211&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="0-TJhuihvrT8Bp6MVo-Rh-LlLGGHnirUxuYDMKY5utU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://albertonykus.deviantart.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Albertonykus (not verified)</a> on 04 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260211">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260212" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1272998551"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>It sounds like there is a basic assumption of a 50:50 sex ratio at birth. Is there any reason to question this assumption?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260212&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="e9dAktcc2XapmNN7Y6yWEmD2Dx0A658Yj_aUaD8kEao"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Jim Thomerson (not verified)</span> on 04 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260212">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260213" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1273009504"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I don't know very much about the topic, but why couldn't the females be producing more female chicks. My understanding is that the Kakapo can alter the sex ratio of their chicks according to how much protein based foods they eat. Why not something similar with the Moa?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260213&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="DhvUmOW9g1hjzD0-QkQgsTlSHzFgng4v1T_sEf2inDo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">D (not verified)</span> on 04 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260213">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260214" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1273023158"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@4: The suggestion is that they died as "subadults or adults". by which time they'd be large enough one wouldn't expect a massive discrepancy in perservation potential based on size alone. They're smaller than the females, but still pretty big animals.</p> <p>(That said, I'm no taphonomist, and it's possible my expectations of the size dependence of perservation potential are wrong.)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260214&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Ajg6gqB1gU8uYOy-mcG_lFMuf2vm8G9YpagLvJsNYvo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Andreas Johansson (not verified)</span> on 04 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260214">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260215" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1273089072"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Maybe they had a social structure similar to that of African elephants or sperm whales: groups consisting of a large number of females with a single or a few males, and the rest of the males either solitary or in all-male groups that frequented different waterholes to the mostly-female groups?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260215&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="kxh_JErncDh_I8JbVaBd8QX4SLBvpB2ZvfYf6Ymgy44"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://biodiverseresistance.blogspot.com" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">shiva (not verified)</a> on 05 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260215">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260216" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1273106618"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Like Shiva, I think it could be behavioural. Females that hung out in groups would be easier to round up, and being larger they would be the preferred target.</p> <p>Also they may have had some sort of spatial sexual segregation, like the kakapo where males live high up in the hills whereas females live lower down in the forest.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260216&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="yVGGTt_71evRvyuZPeHfJm1npckB-NVkB2gHEtmCyes"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Stella (not verified)</span> on 05 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260216">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260217" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1273132837"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Or, explanation number three, moa had a harem-based social system, like some animals like elephant seals and baboons have today. Few males would be present in a general population due to this system, and the majority of the males would instead be loners, surviving and searching for mates on their own.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260217&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="2s5uHxg7twKZ0bnT5-1yn2iU4I85tmbXvVUFiseT_-o"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Anonymous (not verified)</span> on 06 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260217">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260218" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1273138722"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Isn't it usual for males to be larger than females in harem breeding systems?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260218&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="iL8pGhQy0wNg73bt8NpwdwyuUCcE59uhcW8XvCcgR9o"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Jim Thomerson (not verified)</span> on 06 May 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260218">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2260219" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1306857059"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Perhaps the Haast's Eagle preyed on the smaller of the sexes, aka the males. Since predatory birds are rarely seen hunting in packs, why would an eagle take on the much larger female when a smaller male would fully satisfy its appetite? Perhaps what we are exhibiting is a sexual altruism. What would precipitate is fewer males in the population. Since female numbers determine population size and not male numbers, the population would not experience a decline if mainly males were preyed upon. This could help to explain how a population of such giants could persist on a small island under top-down regulation.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2260219&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="6o1dE2mEyps18U7Kt8I29Xtmqcr_Yd2nVQEsdhrp-cU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Cody Post (not verified)</span> on 31 May 2011 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2260219">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/laelaps/2010/05/04/where-are-all-the-males-figu%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Tue, 04 May 2010 09:53:52 +0000 laelaps 110593 at https://scienceblogs.com Ancient DNA from Fossil Eggshells May Provide Clues to Eggstinction of Giant Birds https://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2010/03/10/fossil-egg-dna <span>Ancient DNA from Fossil Eggshells May Provide Clues to Eggstinction of Giant Birds</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><span style="font-size: 10px">tags: <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/evolution" rel="tag">evolution</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/evolutionary+biology" rel="tag">evolutionary biology</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/ancient+DNA" rel="tag">ancient DNA</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/aDNA" rel="tag">aDNA</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/molecular+biology" rel="tag">molecular biology</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/molecular+ecology" rel="tag">molecular ecology</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/archaeology" rel="tag">archaeology</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/paleontology" rel="tag">paleontology</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/fossil+eggshell" rel="tag">fossil eggshell</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/extinct+birds" rel="tag">extinct birds</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/giant+moa" rel="tag">giant moa</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dinornis+robustus" rel="tag">Dinornis robustus</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/elephant+bird" rel="tag">elephant birds</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/Aepyornis+Maximus" rel="tag">Aepyornis maximus</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/Mullerornis" rel="tag">Mullerornis</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/Thunderbirds" rel="tag">Thunderbirds</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/Genyornis" rel="tag">Genyornis</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/researchblogging.org/" rel="tag">researchblogging.org</a>,<a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/peer-reviewed+research" rel="tag">peer-reviewed research</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/peer-reviewed+paper" rel="tag">peer-reviewed paper</a>, <a target="window" href="http://technorati.com/tag/journal+club" rel="tag">journal club</a></span></p> <div class="centeredCaption"> <p><a target="window" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grrlscientist/4421668399/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4421668399_f0ae906e4e_o.jpg" width="488" height="369" /></a></p> <p>Elephant bird, <i>Aepyornis maximus</i>, egg<br /> compared to a human hand with a hummingbird egg balanced on a fingertip. </p> </div> <p><span style="float: left; padding: 5px;"><a target="window" href="http://www.researchblogging.org"><img src="http://www.researchblogging.org/public/citation_icons/rb2_large_gray.png" style="border:0;" /></a></span><br /> </p><p align="justify" class="lead">To conduct my avian research, I've isolated and sequenced DNA from a variety of specimens, such as blood, muscle, skin and a variety of internal organs, dry toepads from long-dead birds in museum collections, feathers, the delicate membranes that line the inside of eggs, and even occasionally from bone. But I was surprised to learn that avian DNA can also be extracted directly from <i>fossilized</i> eggshells -- eggshells that completely lack eggshell membranes. </p> <!--more--><p align="justify">An international team of scientists just published a paper demonstrating for the first time that fossil eggshells are a rich source of DNA.</p> <p align="justify">"Researchers have tried unsuccessfully to isolate DNA from a fossil eggshell for years," reports first author Charlotte Oskam, a doctoral student in biology at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. </p> <p align="justify">"It just turned out that they were using a method designed for bone that was not suitable for a fossil eggshell."</p> <p align="justify">According to Michael Bunce, a professor of biology at Murdoch University, extracting DNA from bone involves removing all the calcium from the bone. This calcium extract is then discarded -- a mistake when dealing with eggshells. </p> <p align="justify">"Turns out that the DNA is trapped within the calcium carbonate matrix," said Dr Bunce. </p> <p align="justify">Using their newly developed method, the team isolated ancient DNA (aDNA) from a variety of fossil eggshells, including a 19,000-year-old emu eggshell as well as eggshells from an extinct species of giant moa, <i>Dinornis robustus</i>, and the enigmatic elephant bird, <i>Aepyornis maximus</i>, from Madagascar. Eggshells from two other extinct species, the little bush moa, <i>Anomalopteryx didiformis</i>, and the heavy-footed moa, <i>Pachyornis elephantopus</i>, both from New Zealand's north island, were estimated to be more than 3,000 years old. Attempts to isolate DNA from a 50,000-year-old flightless Australian Thunderbird, <i>Genyornis</i>, failed because the DNA was too fragmented.</p> <p align="justify">In the eyes of the casual observer, avian eggshells are deceptively simple in appearance. However, a closer examination reveals that eggshells do not have a uniform structure (Figure 1):</p> <div class="centeredCaption"> <p><a target="window" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grrlscientist/4422434756/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/4422434756_4732573fab.jpg" width="387" height="500" /></a></p> <p><b>Figure 1.</b> Avian eggshells. (<i>a</i>) Stylized radial cross-section (upper) with corresponding pictorial view (lower) of a moa eggshell (<i>Dinornis robustus</i>). (<i>b</i>) Outer surface of a moa eggshell (<i>D. robustus</i>). Pores are visible and are aligned towards the poles of the egg. (<i>c</i>) Elephant bird (<i>Aepyornis maximus</i>). (<i>d</i>) Duck (<i>Anas</i> sp.). (<i>e</i>) Emu (<i>Dromaius novaehollandiae</i>). Scale bar, 2 mm. [<a target="window" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/4422434756_02237f109b_o.jpg" width="990" height="1280"></a>larger view]<br /> DOI: <a target="window" rev="review" href="10.1098/rspb.2009.2019">10.1098/rspb.2009.2019</a></p> </div> <p align="justify">Using their new method, most eggshell samples from both ratites and from other Holocene birds yielded aDNA, indicating that avian eggshells can potentially preserve DNA for very long periods of time, even in hostile environments that have not traditionally been conducive to long-term DNA survival.</p> <p align="justify">To further optimize their new method, the team stained fragments of fossil eggshells from a New Zealand giant moa and a Madagascar elephant bird with a fluorescent dye that binds only to double-stranded DNA to determine where aDNA is physically located and to determine its source. Using confocal microscopy, the team found that aDNA is distributed fairly uniformly throughout the eggshell matrix as well as on its inner surface (Figure 2):</p> <div class="centeredCaption"> <p><a target="window" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grrlscientist/4421668523/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4421668523_31c11e92d1.jpg" width="500" height="368" /></a></p> <p><b>Figure 2.</b> Confocal images of ratite eggshells stained for DNA. (<i>a</i>) Confocal radial cross section of an <i>Aepyornis</i> eggshell, stained with SYBR Green, displaying the DNA distributed throughout the matrix: 5à objective lens, scale bar, 400 µm. Inset, orientation of confocal image. (<i>b</i>) Confocal inner surface of a <i>D. robustus</i> eggshell, stained with Hoechst dye, displaying mammillary cones (outlined) with peripherally located DNA: 40à objective lens, scale bar, 50 µm. Inset, orientation of confocal image. Red arrows, fluorescently labelled DNA. [<a target="window" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4421668523_b082a62847_o.jpg" width="1280" height="941">larger view</a>]<br /> DOI: <a target="window" rev="review" href="10.1098/rspb.2009.2019">10.1098/rspb.2009.2019</a></p> </div> <p align="justify">These data shows that the aDNA almost certainly comes from the mother rather than the developing embryo. As the developing egg moves through the hen's oviduct, some the mother's cells are mixed in the calcium carbonate shell as it thickens. </p> <p align="justify">Eggshell is already used for a variety of scientific tests, such as radiocarbon dating and isotope analysis, which provides important information about diets, environments, past biodiversity and evolutionary processes. But obtaining genetic information from both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA isolated from the same samples promises even richer reconstructions of evolutionary history than is currently possible. </p> <p align="justify">The aDNA has not yet been sequenced, but researchers are working on expanding their catalogue of aDNA samples from extinct birds: currently they are extracting genetic material from eggshells held in museums and excavated at archaeological and fossil sites throughout the world. </p> <p align="justify">Combining this newly-devised aDNA extraction method with older, more established techniques will provide more clues into the lives of these ancient birds, and may shed some light on why they mysteriously died out. </p> <p align="justify">The extinction of <i>Aepyornis</i> is especially mysterious. This giant bird lived on Madagascar for nearly 2 million years, but went extinct by the middle of the 17th century. Related to other ratites like the ostrich and emu, the herbivorous <i>Aepyornis</i> was approximately 10 feet tall and weighed roughly 1,000 pounds, making it the heaviest bird to ever live (at 11 feet tall, the now-extinct giant moa is the tallest bird to ever live). It is thought that Europeans saw (and were impressed by) this giant bird before it went extinct. </p> <p align="justify">"This mysterious bird was probably the inspiration behind stories in the <i>Thousand And One Nights</i> as told by Marco Polo," said study co-author Mike Parker-Pearson, an archaeologist at the University of Sheffield in the UK.</p> <p align="justify">Even though it's known that <i>Aepyornis</i> went extinct after the arrival of humans on Madagascar, there's actually no convincing evidence that the bird was hunted by humans. </p> <p align="justify">"There's not even evidence that they ate the eggs -- even though each one could make omelettes for 30 people," remarked Dr Parker-Pearson. </p> <p align="justify">It is possible that humans might have destroyed the birds' habitat or perhaps their domestic animals, such as dogs and pigs, hunted and ate <i>Aepyornis</i> eggs and chicks, which then drove the species to extinction. </p> <p align="justify">"It's amazing that we now know so much about its genetic make-up, its diet and its habits," said Dr Parker-Pearson. "Sadly, it seems to have been yet another casualty of human population growth." </p> <p align="justify">Will it be possible to use aDNA to resurrect these long-extinct birds? Unfortunately, this is unlikely: although aDNA can be sequenced, scientists must know how to correctly repackage the DNA into chromosomes, those giant molecules that contain millions of genes. This is the same challenge facing scientists who wish to bring woolly mammoths back to life, even though mammoth DNA was sequenced from well-preserved specimens recovered from the Siberian permafrost.</p> <p align="justify">"As with all ancient DNA, the DNA we isolated from eggshell is very fragmented," Ms Oskam pointed out. "It will be possible to sequence extinct genomes from fossil eggshell but it is a huge leap to imagine we can clone an extinct species."</p> <div class="centeredCaption"> <p><a target="window" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grrlscientist/4422593207/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4422593207_850a61eea4_o.jpg" width="431" height="575" /></a></p></div> <p><b>Source:</b></p> <p align="justify"><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.jtitle=Proceedings+of+the+Royal+Society+B%3A+Biological+Sciences&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1098%2Frspb.2009.2019&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fresearchblogging.org&amp;rft.atitle=Fossil+avian+eggshell+preserves+ancient+DNA&amp;rft.issn=0962-8452&amp;rft.date=2010&amp;rft.volume=&amp;rft.issue=&amp;rft.spage=&amp;rft.epage=&amp;rft.artnum=http%3A%2F%2Frspb.royalsocietypublishing.org%2Fcgi%2Fdoi%2F10.1098%2Frspb.2009.2019&amp;rft.au=Oskam%2C+C.&amp;rft.au=Haile%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=McLay%2C+E.&amp;rft.au=Rigby%2C+P.&amp;rft.au=Allentoft%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Olsen%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Bengtsson%2C+C.&amp;rft.au=Miller%2C+G.&amp;rft.au=Schwenninger%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=Jacomb%2C+C.&amp;rft.au=Walter%2C+R.&amp;rft.au=Baynes%2C+A.&amp;rft.au=Dortch%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=Parker-Pearson%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Gilbert%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Holdaway%2C+R.&amp;rft.au=Willerslev%2C+E.&amp;rft.au=Bunce%2C+M.&amp;rfe_dat=bpr3.included=1;bpr3.tags=Anthropology%2CBiology%2CGeosciences%2CEvolutionary+Biology%2C+Archeology+%2C+Biogeosciences%2C+Paleontology%2C+Ancient+DNA%2C+Genetics+%2C+Molecular+Biology%2C+Zoology%2C+Ornithology%2C+Extinct+Birds">Oskam, C., Haile, J., McLay, E., Rigby, P., Allentoft, M., Olsen, M., Bengtsson, C., Miller, G., Schwenninger, J., Jacomb, C., Walter, R., Baynes, A., Dortch, J., Parker-Pearson, M., Gilbert, M., Holdaway, R., Willerslev, E., &amp; Bunce, M. (2010). <b>Fossil avian eggshell preserves ancient DNA.</b> <span style="font-style: italic;">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</span> DOI: <a rev="review" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2019">10.1098/rspb.2009.2019</a></span></p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/grrlscientist" lang="" about="/author/grrlscientist" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">grrlscientist</a></span> <span>Wed, 03/10/2010 - 09:50</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/biology" hreflang="en">biology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/evolution" hreflang="en">evolution</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/fossils" hreflang="en">fossils</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genetics" hreflang="en">genetics</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/journal-club" hreflang="en">journal club</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/molecular-biology" hreflang="en">Molecular Biology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/ornithology" hreflang="en">ornithology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/paleontology" hreflang="en">paleontology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/zoology" hreflang="en">zoology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/adna" hreflang="en">aDNA</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/aepyornis" hreflang="en">Aepyornis</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/ancient-dna" hreflang="en">ancient dna</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/bpr3orgp52" hreflang="en">bpr3.org/?p=52</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/dinornis-robustus" hreflang="en">Dinornis robustus</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/elephant-birds" hreflang="en">elephant birds</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/evolutionary-biology" hreflang="en">Evolutionary Biology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/extinct-birds" hreflang="en">extinct birds</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/fossil-eggshell" hreflang="en">fossil eggshell</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genyornis" hreflang="en">Genyornis</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/moa" hreflang="en">moa</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/molecular-ecology" hreflang="en">molecular ecology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/mullerornis" hreflang="en">Mullerornis</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/peer-reviewed-paper" hreflang="en">peer-reviewed paper</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/peer-reviewed-research" hreflang="en">peer-reviewed research</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/thunderbirds" hreflang="en">Thunderbirds</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/biology" hreflang="en">biology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/evolution" hreflang="en">evolution</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/fossils" hreflang="en">fossils</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genetics" hreflang="en">genetics</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/journal-club" hreflang="en">journal club</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/molecular-biology" hreflang="en">Molecular Biology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/ornithology" hreflang="en">ornithology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/paleontology" hreflang="en">paleontology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/zoology" hreflang="en">zoology</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-categories field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Categories</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/channel/life-sciences" hreflang="en">Life Sciences</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074120" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268241988"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>That's really cool.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074120&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="zQDjvJM4rCwSWj2rJIi_FREqBJQjYRHK3f1fWpK_vZs"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">arby (not verified)</span> on 10 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074120">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074121" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268247098"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Sorry, all the "convincing evidence" needed, to assign this to human predation is- the utterly uniform behavior of hunter-gatherer peoples, and specifically the proto-polynesian peoples that wound up in Madagascar. Wherever they landed, they ate everything. Always. All the flightless birds wound up in the pot, and extinct (ok, except kiwis and kakapos, but don't forget the many moas).</p> <p>This is a symptom of the distressingly common fallacy that "if I can't find a peer-reviewed paper on it - then, it isn't true, or demonstrated, and we don't know it". Such malarky- I'm quite sure the creators of "science" did not intend to just wipe out all human experience, and start from scratch- but somehow we're training scientists who do not understand that.</p> <p>Most of these "fossils" incidentally, are only called that out of courtesy- they are not fossilized in the usual sense, of having minerals substituted for bone. Which doesn't mean you can't get DNA from true fossils.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074121&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="VZ_JZRGE6SIb4ZYlZSgvfgCxydDYRM8GkzoC6yyl4Bc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Greenpa (not verified)</a> on 10 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074121">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="134" id="comment-2074122" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268276094"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>greenpa: well, as they say; making assumptions can make an "ass out of you and me."</p> <p>good point about the use of the word "fossil" in this paper. it appears that the use of this word is different for archaeologists than for paleontologists (dictionary implies it is a rather general word; specific definitions come from context). i think these eggshells might be more correctly known as "subfossils" by the paleontologists amongst us.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074122&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Y3y_-pmGJM408xLMs8UJmc1EeJPI63_CAtNoiRgMN_Q"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/grrlscientist" lang="" about="/author/grrlscientist" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">grrlscientist</a> on 10 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074122">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/grrlscientist"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/grrlscientist" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/Hedwig%20P%C3%B6ll%C3%B6l%C3%A4inen.jpeg?itok=-pOoqzmB" width="58" height="58" alt="Profile picture for user grrlscientist" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074123" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268286102"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@Greenpa: Actually it would be silly to say that people must have eaten the bird and thus driven it to extinction. There are any number of other reasons the bird may have been hunted and any number of other reasons it could have been driven to extinction. So scientists suspend judgement as Bertrand Russel puts it, rather than make statements which they cannot demonstrate to be true because they want to imagine that they know something. Even if bird pieces were found in ancient garbage pits and indicated that humans ate the birds, scientists can still only say that hunting may have been a contributing factor. We know for example that the dodo did not become extinct because humans hunted it for food - so there goes your theory that they are always hunted to extinction for food. The Carrier Pigeon is another animal which was not driven to extinction due to its value as food. Otters were driven to extinction in many places due to their pelts, and the North American Buffalo was almost extinguished for its pelts; there are accounts of the animals being shot and skinned and the carcass left to rot, with only the occasional carcass taken for food.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074123&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="0ryqP0WGbibuR0PGGc8sm_lHZ1mXIqkSUBhnpcA0rWc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">MadScientist (not verified)</span> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074123">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074124" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268292503"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><i> The Carrier Pigeon is another animal which was not driven to extinction due to its value as food.</i></p> <p>Indeed, because it isn't extinct! No doubt you meant the Passenger Pigeon...</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074124&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="ESho5CLeVXPHNlOm90q7VFlOGNszbx3N1t5wykw8w60"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://johnhawks.net/weblog" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Hawks (not verified)</a> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074124">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074125" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268296089"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>And the Passenger Pigeon <i>was</i> hunted for food, and quite aggressively.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074125&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="YUgykvBY-Y9oAg46EMMDA2GFUqtq6qRyUUW_Ubjt5GE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">llewelly (not verified)</span> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074125">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074126" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268300378"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Mad Scientist- you caught me writing too fast. :-) You're absolutely correct, of course. I posted some very similar comments over on the post re ancient musk ox DNA.</p> <p>And, I did that terribly human thing- repeating something I'd heard repeatedly. Among many people studying the Pacific, the bit about "they ate everything!" is in vogue, though not intended as absolute truth.</p> <p>Good catch. :-)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074126&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="SHHLc1pcecNbaeLknvCHRE4boifZaTFOrEIR21JZ9z8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Greenpa (not verified)</a> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074126">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074127" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268301606"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>llewelly - yes, indeed, but the picky ones will point out that it was not hunting, per se, that caused the extinction, but the interference with reproduction. Most ornithologists I think now accept the idea that Passenger Pigeons had a very large minimum flock size required for initiation of a nesting colony - like a half-million birds or so. Smaller flocks refused to nest. Our host may have the most recent information?</p> <p>Which points out of course the frustrating difficulties of scientists from different disciplines attempting to communicate. The ethologist might focus on the nesting disruption, and the anthropologist on the practice of feeding pigs on the knocked down nestlings. </p> <p>My own preference is to suggest that the introduction of any novel top predator into a naive population will render virtually the entire ecosystem metastable. Extinctions can easily result- and historically- its clear they do. One stellar example being the broad extinctions of the South American marsupial mega fauna - where Homo was not even involved.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074127&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="rH5sopLS4WQTkfIPS-wF3FhldqXiQRh8-eMJ5G0-9eM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Greenpa (not verified)</a> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074127">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074128" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268302279"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>And, actually, Mad scientist- Carrier Pigeon!!?? lol. We all do it. :-)</p> <p>And, re: American bison- the anthropologists and historians will claim that the near extinction was the direct result of a US Federal policy, established and pushed by General WT Sherman, of eradicating them to starve out the Native Americans. From Wikipedia (sorry):</p> <p>"In July 1865, only three months after Robert E. Leeâs surrender at Appomattox, General W. T. Sherman was put in charge of the Military Division of the Missouri, which included every territory west of the Mississippi. Sherman's main concern as commanding general was to protect the construction and operation of the railroads from attack by hostile Indians. In his campaigns against the Indian tribes, Sherman repeated his Civil War strategy by seeking not only to defeat the enemy's soldiers, but also to destroy the resources that allowed the enemy to sustain its warfare. The policies he implemented included the extensive killing of large numbers of buffalo, which were the primary source of food for the Plains Indians.[104]"</p> <p>Sherman, and his successors, I believe, greatly encouraged and facilitated the kind of slaughters you describe-where only the robe and tongue were taken; salted; and shipped east on the railroads the Army was protecting...</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074128&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="FiRtsZ1EykWc2WJB4AhqHSp8CdMXDdI6pL9XrkQkYhQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Greenpa (not verified)</a> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074128">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074129" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268311022"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>but the picky ones will point out that it was not hunting, per se, that caused the extinction, but the interference with reproduction.</p></blockquote> <p>Err, yes. And how did their population sizes get that low? Hunting, perhaps?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074129&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="dnF_0W5aSAi6FzTJYbPFv2rlIdixqN3ZFg2zKPvq9BQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://network.nature.com/people/boboh/blog" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Bob O&#039;H (not verified)</a> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074129">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="134" id="comment-2074130" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268313245"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>maybe not hunting, <i>per se</i>. didn't the pigeon pope come to america and impose regulations on avian sexual behavior?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074130&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="cGI_jN8uz2QFdekIRUzT6qSOHTi5QunrERQcF9DUZSU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/grrlscientist" lang="" about="/author/grrlscientist" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">grrlscientist</a> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074130">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/grrlscientist"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/grrlscientist" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/Hedwig%20P%C3%B6ll%C3%B6l%C3%A4inen.jpeg?itok=-pOoqzmB" width="58" height="58" alt="Profile picture for user grrlscientist" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074131" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268323989"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The pigeon pope !!?? lol!</p> <p>And Bob- yes, we're talking about the "picky" ones; people who like to cherry pick which direction information leads. And hunting? Are you familiar with the primary harvest methods? Hard to call them hunting- if one is picky.</p> <p>Standard method- several hundred people would wait outside one of the miles-long nesting sites until well after dark. Then, with torches, they would move in, and club- everything. Some would be assigned to pick up unmangled adults and squabs big enough for eating. Afterward, they'd turn the pigs in, to clean up the ones missed or stepped on, or just superfluous.</p> <p>Appalling and shameful beyond words- and a far cry, many would say, from "hunting". </p> <p>Now- where I live in SE Minnesota, unlimited market hunting DID eradicate whitetail deer and wild turkey, when they were hunted to feed the riverboats and loggers in the 1800s. The deer are pests now, and it's hard to remember that until around 1950, seeing a deer around here would get your name in the paper; rare as Great Auks.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074131&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="c8ruv5RQ6aSPptKcWuuienJZBp0eoryGSEmidKVvaTs"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Greenpa (not verified)</a> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074131">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074132" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268367167"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@John Hawks: Oops ... silly me. Yes, the Passenger Pigeon.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074132&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="U5-CObiCCT6OgWVLxMC3iSTPpAQX6uk05Asnzz7Txqg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">MadScientist (not verified)</span> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074132">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074133" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268367802"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@llewelly: The shooting of Passenger Pigeons was actually promoted, and not for food either. I don't know if it's that "shoot 'em for fun" or shooting for food which eventually reduced their numbers too much; I've always heard it was shooting for fun. It's easy to imagine shooting them for food though; pigeons are tasty and just large enough to be worthwhile hunting or trapping for food.</p> <p>@Greenpa: It's easy to make those mistakes. Sometimes we see so much of one case that we forget about other cases. There are a number of migratory birds in Asia which will probably be driven to extinction due to (1) hunting for food and (2) extermination due to being (incorrectly) perceived as pests. The Asian Mynah is being driven towards extinction as well but I'm not aware of anyone using the bird as food (which doesn't mean the bird isn't used as food - but certainly not eaten in places I've been to).</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074133&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="U86sSENDSOIPgsLKUHzwMKwd7EYGgx0ZDn0qvd-wF5s"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">MadScientist (not verified)</span> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074133">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074134" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268368351"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@llewelly: Hmm ... OK - according to the Wikipedia they were hunted for a variety of reasons including food. So hunting for food probably was a big part. The stories I remember (or think I remember) must be largely hearsay then.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074134&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="haQc98SK00Q4YG0ls6xlXBzI9G01vzgHIarUX2tQITU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">MadScientist (not verified)</span> on 11 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074134">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2074135" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268390452"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Mad- I'm sure there was plenty of "fun" shooting, but Passenger Pigeons were also an abundant commodity at the time, and without refrigeration, the waste must have been phenomenal. They were typically just packed, un-plucked, ungutted, into wooden barrels, and tossed on the train. Here is a first-remove narrative; the story on pigeons is 3/4 of the way down the page-</p> <p><a href="http://genealogytrails.com/ill/jefferson/articles/vol2hist4.html">http://genealogytrails.com/ill/jefferson/articles/vol2hist4.html</a></p> <p>I'd never heard of this particular method- injuring a bird and then shooting the responding mobs- a rather un-pigeonlike behavior I think. A fascinating fragment about the behavior of the vanished.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2074135&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="8ARRYe6gU5doBSjNc0oAt-SaFyfEn_VsRSF229Zii4I"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Greenpa (not verified)</a> on 12 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2074135">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/grrlscientist/2010/03/10/fossil-egg-dna%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:50:47 +0000 grrlscientist 90498 at https://scienceblogs.com DNA from the largest bird ever sequenced from fossil eggshells https://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2010/03/09/dna-from-the-largest-bird-ever-sequenced-from-fossil-eggshel <span>DNA from the largest bird ever sequenced from fossil eggshells </span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p class=" "><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-e521e3d58545f7db4e7fadd52eac38d5-Aepyornis.jpg" alt="i-e521e3d58545f7db4e7fadd52eac38d5-Aepyornis.jpg" />Even extinction and the passing of millennia are no barriers to clever geneticists. In the past few years, scientists have managed to sequence the <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2010/02/meet_inuk_-_full_genome_of_ancient_human_tells_us_about_his.php">complete genome of a prehistoric human</a> and produced "first drafts" of the <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/11/sequencing_a_mammoth_genome.php">mammoth</a> and <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article5719640.ece">Neanderthal</a> genomes. More controversially, some groups have even <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/04/dinosaur_proteins_cells_and_blood_vessels_recovered_from_brachylophosaurus.php">recovered DNA from dinosaurs</a>. Now, a variety of extinct birds join the ancient DNA club including the largest that ever lived - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aepyornis"><em>Aepyornis</em></a>, the elephant bird.<span>  </span> </p> <p class=" ">In a first for palaeontology, Charlotte Oskam from Murdoch University, Perth, extracted DNA from 18 fossil eggshells, either directly excavated or taken from museum collections. Some came from long-deceased members of living species including the emu, an owl and a duck. Others belonged to extinct species including Madagascar's 3-metre tall elephant bird and the giants <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moa">moas</a> of New Zealand. A few of these specimens are just a few centuries old, but the oldest came from an emu that lived 19,000 years ago. </p> <p class=" ">It turns out that bird eggshells are an excellent source of ancient DNA. They're made of a protein matrix that is loaded with DNA and surrounded by crystals of calcium carbonate. The structure shelters the DNA and acts as a barrier to oxygen and water, two of the major contributors to DNA damage. Eggshells also stop microbes from growing and it seems that ancient ones still do the same. Oskam found that the fossil shells had around 125 times less bacterial DNA than bones of the same species did. </p> <p class=" ">This is important - bacteria are a major problem for attempts to extract ancient DNA and they force scientists to search for uncontaminated sources, like frozen hair. Eggshells, it seems, provide similarly bacteria-free samples. Still, Oskam's team took every precaution to prevent contamination. They used clean rooms and many control samples. Many of their sequences, like those of <em>Aepyornis</em>, were checked by two independent laboratories. </p> <p class=" ">The <em>Aepyornis</em> sequences are particularly encouraging because many scientists have previously tried to extract DNA from the bones of this giant and failed. Eggshells seem like a more promising source and it certainly helps that the eggs of many of these giant species were massive and thick. But Oskam <em>did</em> also recover DNA from a fossil duck egg, which suggests that it should be possible to sequence the genes of even small extinct birds, like the dodo. </p> <!--more--><p>So far, the team have proved that they can extract the DNA. It's what they do with it that counts. It's worth remembering that fossil eggshells have already helped palaeontologists to date the remains of ancient birds, and reconstruct their diets and lifestyles. Some even clue us into the artistic traditions of our own ancestors. </p> <p>Oskam is now analysing around 400 pieces from sites around New Zealand to understand how humans interacted with the moas and how our zealous hunting drove them to extinction. There were several different species of moa that are difficult to tell apart - egg DNA could help Oskam to do just that. The same technique could be used to study the last days of other extinct birds with interesting evolutionary histories, including the great auk, Haast's eagle and that poster child for extinction, the dodo. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Mike Bunce, who led the study, is keen to try and release ancient DNA from eggshells all around the world. "Given frozen environments preserve DNA 'better', we are very keen to examine any eggshell finds from 'old' sediments, such as seabird nesting sites, in the Arctic and Antarctic," he says. And the door should now be open for other researchers to do the same. After all, in finding out how to extract DNA from eggshells, Oskam tested a variety of methods to develop the most efficient possible protocol. </p> <p>Still, it's clear that the technique has limitations. Oskam tried to extract DNA from the 50,000-year-old shell of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genyornis">Genyornis</a>, a giant Australian bird that lived in a very hot climate. She failed. And as Bunce clearly stresses, "This <span>is not a technique that is applicable to fossil dinosaur eggs." </span> </p> <p class="h2"><em>Update: That hasn't stopped the idiotic headline writers to <a href="http://www.metro.co.uk/news/816703-dinosaur-dna-rebuilt-from-ancient-eggs">London's Metro newspaper</a> from claiming that "Jurassic Park has just taken a giant T-Rex-sized step toward becoming reality after ancient DNA from long-extinct creatures was successfully extracted." Amusingly, the claim that dinsoaur DNA has been rebuilt is technically true given that birds are living dinosaurs. And if the subeditor who wrote the headline and standfirst and chose the picture actually knew that, I'd be surprised. </em> </p> <p class="center"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-e8f5f9338ce8fb650aeb6d5f109d8847-Moa_Haasteagle.jpg" alt="i-e8f5f9338ce8fb650aeb6d5f109d8847-Moa_Haasteagle.jpg" /> </p> <p><strong>Reference:</strong> <span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.jtitle=Proceedings+of+the+Royal+Society+B%3A+Biological+Sciences&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1098%2Frspb.2009.2019&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fresearchblogging.org&amp;rft.atitle=Fossil+avian+eggshell+preserves+ancient+DNA&amp;rft.issn=0962-8452&amp;rft.date=2010&amp;rft.volume=&amp;rft.issue=&amp;rft.spage=&amp;rft.epage=&amp;rft.artnum=http%3A%2F%2Frspb.royalsocietypublishing.org%2Fcgi%2Fdoi%2F10.1098%2Frspb.2009.2019&amp;rft.au=Oskam%2C+C.&amp;rft.au=Haile%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=McLay%2C+E.&amp;rft.au=Rigby%2C+P.&amp;rft.au=Allentoft%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Olsen%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Bengtsson%2C+C.&amp;rft.au=Miller%2C+G.&amp;rft.au=Schwenninger%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=Jacomb%2C+C.&amp;rft.au=Walter%2C+R.&amp;rft.au=Baynes%2C+A.&amp;rft.au=Dortch%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=Parker-Pearson%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Gilbert%2C+M.&amp;rft.au=Holdaway%2C+R.&amp;rft.au=Willerslev%2C+E.&amp;rft.au=Bunce%2C+M.&amp;rfe_dat=bpr3.included=1;bpr3.tags=">Oskam, C., Haile, J., McLay, E., Rigby, P., Allentoft, M., Olsen, M., Bengtsson, C., Miller, G., Schwenninger, J., Jacomb, C., Walter, R., Baynes, A., Dortch, J., Parker-Pearson, M., Gilbert, M., Holdaway, R., Willerslev, E., &amp; Bunce, M. (2010). Fossil avian eggshell preserves ancient DNA <span style="font-style: italic;">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</span> DOI: <a rev="review" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2019">10.1098/rspb.2009.2019</a></span> </p> <p><strong>More on ancient DNA: </strong> </p> <ul> <li><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/04/dinosaur_proteins_cells_and_blood_vessels_recovered_from_brachylophosaurus.php">Dinosaur proteins, cells and blood vessels recovered from <em><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: blue;">Bracyhlophosaurus</span></em></a> </li> <li><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/11/sequencing_a_mammoth_genome.php">Sequencing a mammoth genome</a> </li> <li><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2010/02/meet_inuk_-_full_genome_of_ancient_human_tells_us_about_his.php">Meet Inuk - full genome of ancient human tells us about his hair, eyes, skin, teeth, ancestry and earwax</a></li> </ul> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/edyong209"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-77217d2c5311c2be408065c3c076b83e-Twitter.jpg" alt="i-77217d2c5311c2be408065c3c076b83e-Twitter.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Not-Exactly-Rocket-Science/209972267204?ref=ts"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-988017b08cce458f49765389f9af0675-Facebook.jpg" alt="i-988017b08cce458f49765389f9af0675-Facebook.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/scienceblogs/Ruxi"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-6f3b46114afd5e1e9660f1f502bf6836-Feed.jpg" alt="i-6f3b46114afd5e1e9660f1f502bf6836-Feed.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Not-Exactly-Rocket-Science-Yong/dp/1409242285"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-deec675bab6f2b978e687ca6294b41a5-Book.jpg" alt="i-deec675bab6f2b978e687ca6294b41a5-Book.jpg" /></a> </p> <p><script type="text/javascript"> <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- tweetmeme_style = 'compact'; //--><!]]> </script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"> <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- //--><!]]> </script></p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/notrocketscience" lang="" about="/notrocketscience" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">edyong</a></span> <span>Tue, 03/09/2010 - 13:00</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/ancient-dna" hreflang="en">ancient dna</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/animals" hreflang="en">animals</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/birds" hreflang="en">birds</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genetics" hreflang="en">genetics</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/palaeontology" hreflang="en">Palaeontology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/aepyornis" hreflang="en">Aepyornis</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/dna" hreflang="en">DNA</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/eggs" hreflang="en">eggs</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/elephant-bird" hreflang="en">elephant bird</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/fossil" hreflang="en">fossil</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/moa" hreflang="en">moa</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/oskam" hreflang="en">Oskam</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/shell" hreflang="en">shell</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/animals" hreflang="en">animals</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/birds" hreflang="en">birds</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genetics" hreflang="en">genetics</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-categories field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Categories</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/channel/social-sciences" hreflang="en">Social Sciences</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345610" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268159006"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Can this technique actually be used on non-avian dinosaur eggs? I don't see why not but a confirmation would help.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345610&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="-wO0AYX28gmBn0Z7pKX3R7DPZ2WMtespt5E25xJVxaM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric (not verified)</span> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345610">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345611" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268159239"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Helps to finish reading the article ;-)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345611&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="tU60Y9n0ttdlA-2YGGJzm31jbimaYuHnsDksyqn7cL8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Ed Yong (not verified)</span> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345611">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345612" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268160573"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Yes Ed, but the why wasn't given so I'll give it.</p> <p>Dinosaur eggs had more leathery shells much like living reptiles &amp; the original shells are fossilized rather than containing their original materials.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345612&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="N4QhlmUk792cF0-aaM_9MFFu5pf4d0bUCkZnpnrkNo0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Rob Jase (not verified)</span> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345612">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345613" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268162783"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Very cool, </p> <p>I think the moa are now more studied than many of our extant birds!</p> <p>It's a shame they couldn't get the <i>Genyornis</i> shell to go, we might have got proof that the dromornithids really were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullockornis">Demon Ducks of Doom</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345613&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="L7tVOSUIw9CYmmIoRbSAYVTxtgI5uTx1tbAT49pozk0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://sciblogs.co.nz/the-atavism" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">david winter (not verified)</a> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345613">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345614" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268168087"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Who is Bunce?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345614&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="PeprhPlRpOHfhiDqDde--_jYorB2qabRkGZu92955tE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Cameron Turner (not verified)</span> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345614">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345615" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268176116"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Not all birds are living dinosaurs. Some are <i>extinct</i> dinosaurs. Or, <i>were</i> extinct dinosaurs. Or, er, something. Isn't that your ringtone?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345615&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="k5H5qD7dZMX5DqdwHCne73lCM9UQwSBLGIu4qLcNois"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Nathan Myers (not verified)</span> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345615">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345616" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268181442"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Also worth pointing out that elephant birds went extinct about 1000 years ago whereas dinosaurs went extinct tens of millions of years ago. Apparently the Metro writer has no idea what "several orders of magnitude" means. However, given Mary Schweitzer's findings of proteins and cells I still wouldn't bet money that finding dinosaur DNA (albeit far too fragmented for Michael Crichton) is completely impossible.</p> <p>Bird eggs are immensely cool and marvellous things. Sad to say my only lab experience with them has been using them to grow viruses in. Some day I'd like to raise pet chickens.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345616&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="1mMuz6mr0chTrV17SH8QCrogxtZkKVTn0frqa5s45wE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.xenobiologista.com/blog/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Hwa Shi-Hsia (not verified)</a> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345616">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345617" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268184375"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>From your article, it's not clear to me whether they just extracted DNA, or really sequenced it. If the DNA was sequenced, does the article mention how much and what type of DNA was sequenced? Are we talking about the mitochondrial DNA, some genes or a really large chunk of the genome?<br /> I'm asking as it is important for how information we can derive from this 'paleo-sequences'. I'm curious as to how it compares to other sequencing project (like the neanderthal genome project, which is largely based on DNA derived from femur bones).</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345617&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="sNMjMO4lYwadI7jQqm7HBPkmm23IMtH5XKUH7rX5hhM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.lucasbrouwers.nl" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Lucas (not verified)</a> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345617">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345618" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268193773"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Please allow me to second Cameron's question. Who's Bunce?</p> <p>The link isn't working, just as you predicted, Ed, so I'm guessing that Bunce may be a coauthor.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345618&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="nejBTRphka5JFSZ91rr-hXefAMw1AP8kTyKFpJUQ3Yg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Pete Moulton (not verified)</span> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345618">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345619" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268194901"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Oops. Yes, Bunce is the final author. I've added a clarifying clause to explain his mysterious appearance at the end of the article. Sorry for the confusion. </p> <p>Shi-Hsia - I actually asked Mary Schweitzer for a comment on this, but she hasn't got back to me yet.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345619&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Xm1yEIOrbgc7CqDYYWQBiPF1XTJ_rUI5w27dG_KWJP8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Ed Yong (not verified)</span> on 09 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345619">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345620" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1268220296"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Fantastic!<br /> I wonder what will the analysis discover.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345620&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="BtMsO7ppcN7cBJwtY92PX96FSMima3o60mqepPdZyE0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://dnaencyclopedia.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">DNA (not verified)</a> on 10 Mar 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2345620">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/notrocketscience/2010/03/09/dna-from-the-largest-bird-ever-sequenced-from-fossil-eggshel%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:00:31 +0000 edyong 120463 at https://scienceblogs.com Ancient DNA & the moa https://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2009/11/18/ancient-dna-the-moa <span>Ancient DNA &amp; the moa</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/11/17/0906660106.short?rss=1">The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>...We synthesize mitochondrial phylogenetic information from 263 subfossil moa specimens from across NZ with morphological, ecological, and new geological data to create the first comprehensive phylogeny, taxonomy, and evolutionary timeframe for all of the species of an extinct order. We also present an important new geological/paleogeographical model of late Cenozoic NZ, which suggests that terrestrial biota on the North and South Island landmasses were isolated for most of the past 20-30 Ma. The data reveal that the patterns of genetic diversity within and between different moa clades reflect a complex history following a major marine transgression in the Oligocene, affected by marine barriers, tectonic activity, and glacial cycles. Surprisingly, the remarkable morphological radiation of moa appears to have occurred much more recently than previous early Miocene (ca. 15 Ma) estimates, and was coincident with the accelerated uplift of the Southern Alps just ca. 5-8.5 <b>Ma. Together with recent fossil evidence, these data suggest that the recent evolutionary history of nearly all of the iconic NZ terrestrial biota occurred principally on just the South Island.</b></p></blockquote> <p>"Subfossil" means that it hasn't totally fossilized and one can extract organic material from the remains.</p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/razib" lang="" about="/author/razib" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">razib</a></span> <span>Wed, 11/18/2009 - 16:54</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/ecology" hreflang="en">ecology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/evolution" hreflang="en">evolution</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/moa" hreflang="en">moa</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/new-zealand" hreflang="en">New Zealand</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/evolution" hreflang="en">evolution</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2167737" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1258644925"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>"nearly all of the iconic NZ terrestrial biota occurred principally on just the South Island": well quite. Just what you'd expect. Little good comes from the North Island.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2167737&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="dTzO_e8CHODp6-JAWB3HdvBIE9FmEF9gSPfuuNZdYf8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">bioIgnoramus (not verified)</span> on 19 Nov 2009 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/24653/feed#comment-2167737">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/gnxp/2009/11/18/ancient-dna-the-moa%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:54:02 +0000 razib 101047 at https://scienceblogs.com