Mitochondrial genomes of Pleistocene megafauna retrieved from recent sediment layers of two Siberian lakes.

ABSTRACT: Ancient environmental DNA (aeDNA) from lake sediments has yielded remarkable insights for the reconstruction of past ecosystems, including suggestions of late survival of extinct species. However, translocation and lateral inflow of DNA in sediments can potentially distort the stratigraphic signal of the DNA. Using three different approaches on two short lake sediment cores of the Yamal peninsula, West Siberia, with ages spanning only the past hundreds of years, we detect DNA and identified mitochondrial genomes of multiple mammoth and woolly rhinoceros individuals-both species that have been extinct for thousands of years on the mainland. The occurrence of clearly identifiable aeDNA of extinct Pleistocene megafauna (e.g. >400 K reads in one core) throughout these two short subsurface core

SUBMITTER: Seeber PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10942779 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature