Holocene shifts in marine mammal distributions around Northern Greenland revealed by sedimentary ancient DNA.

ABSTRACT: Arctic marine ecosystems have undergone notable reconfigurations in response to Holocene climate and environmental changes. Yet our understanding of how marine mammal occurrence was impacted remains limited, due to their relative scarcity in the fossil record. We reconstruct the occurrence of marine mammals across the past 12,000 years through detections based on sedimentary ancient DNA from four marine sediment cores collected around Northern Greenland, and integrate the findings with local and regional environmental proxy records. Our findings indicate a close association between marine mammals at densities detectable in marine sediments and the deglaciation of high Arctic marine environments at the onset of the Holocene. Further, we identify air temperature and changes in sea ice cover

SUBMITTER: Schreiber L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12081675 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature