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The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Bas van Geel ,
André Aptroot ,
Claudia Baittinger ,
Hilary H. Birks ,
Ian D. Bull ,
Hugh B. Cross ,
Richard P. Evershed ,
Barbara Gravendeel ,
Erwin J.O. Kompanje  and
Peter Kuperus
...Show all authors
Bas van Geel*
Affiliation:
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands
André Aptroot
Affiliation:
Adviesbureau voor Bryologie en Lichenologie, Gerrit van der Veenstraat 107, 3762 XK Soest, The Netherlands
Claudia Baittinger
Affiliation:
NEDL — North European Dendro Lab, Copenhagen, and Environmental Archeology, National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
Hilary H. Birks
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, and Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
Ian D. Bull
Affiliation:
Organic Geochemistry Unit, Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK
Hugh B. Cross
Affiliation:
Nationaal Herbarium Nederland — Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
Richard P. Evershed
Affiliation:
Organic Geochemistry Unit, Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK
Barbara Gravendeel
Affiliation:
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands Nationaal Herbarium Nederland — Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
Erwin J.O. Kompanje
Affiliation:
Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, and Natural History Museum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Peter Kuperus
Affiliation:
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Dick Mol
Affiliation:
Natural History Museum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Klaas G.J. Nierop
Affiliation:
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jan Peter Pals
Affiliation:
Amsterdam Archaeological Centre, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Alexei N. Tikhonov
Affiliation:
Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Guido van Reenen
Affiliation:
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Peter H. van Tienderen
Affiliation:
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*
*Corrresponding author. Fax: +31 20 5257832.E-mail address:vanGeel@science.uva.nl (B. van Geel).
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Abstract

Part of a large male woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) was preserved in permafrost in northern Yakutia. It was radiocarbon dated to ca. 18,50014C yr BP (ca. 22,500 cal yr BP). Dung from the lower intestine was subjected to a multiproxy array of microscopic, chemical, and molecular techniques to reconstruct the diet, the season of death, and the paleoenvironment. Pollen and plant macro-remains showed that grasses and sedges were the main food, with considerable amounts of dwarf willow twigs and a variety of herbs and mosses. Analyses of 110-bp fragments of the plastid rbcL gene amplified from DNA and of organic compounds supplemented the microscopic identifications. Fruit-bodies of dung-inhabiting Ascomycete fungi which develop after at least one week of exposure to air were found inside the intestine. Therefore the mammoth had eaten dung. It was probably mammoth dung as no bile acids were detected among the fecal biomarkers analysed. The plant assemblage and the presence of the first spring vessels of terminal tree-rings of dwarf willows indicated that the animal died in early spring. The mammoth lived in extensive cold treeless grassland vegetation interspersed with wetter, more productive meadows. The study demonstrated the paleoecological potential of several biochemical analytical techniques.

Keywords

Ancient DNABiomarkerDietDungLipidMammuthus primigeniusMicrofossilsMacro-remainsTree-ring analysisYukagir
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 69 , Issue 3 , May 2008 , pp. 361 - 376
Copyright
Elsevier Inc.

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