Ancient Faunal History Revealed by Interdisciplinary Biomolecular Approaches

Abstract

Starting four decades ago, studies have examined the ecology and evolutionary dynamics of populations and species using short mitochondrial DNA fragments and stable isotopes. Through technological and analytical advances, the methods and biomolecules at our disposal have increased significantly to now include lipids, whole genomes, proteomes, and even epigenomes. At an unprecedented resolution, the study of ancient biomolecules has made it possible for us to disentangle the complex processes that shaped the ancient faunal diversity across millennia, with the potential to aid in implicating probable causes of species extinction and how humans impacted the genetics and ecology of wild and domestic species. However, even now, few studies explore interdisciplinary biomolecular approaches to reveal ancient faunal diversity dynamics in relation to environmental and anthropogenic impact. This review will approach how biomolecules have been implemented in a broad variety of topics and species, from the extinct Pleistocene megafauna to ancient wild and domestic stocks, as well as how their future use has the potential to offer an enhanced understanding of drivers of past faunal diversity on Earth.

Ancient DNA from a 2700-year-old goitered gazelle ( Gazella subgutturosa ) supports gazelle hunting in Iron Age Central Asia

“…Ancient DNA approaches are a powerful addition to the zooarchaeological toolkit allowing to assign species, ancestry, biological sex and/or certain traits to faunal remains (e.g. [9,10]). However, most studies have focused on domesticated animals instead of wild species that were hunted.…”

Multispecies Pasts and the Possibilities of Multispecies Futures in the Age of the Anthropocene

“…Various organisms which once inhabited the Earth can be identified not only on the basis of their physical remains (bones, shells, seeds) but also in the environment, encapsulated in soils, substances and materials (e.g. Rawlence et al 2014;Roffet-Salque et al 2017;Rosengren et al 2021). A noteworthy example comes from southern Denmark, where a complete human genome, plant and animal DNA (presumably from a meal), and DNA fragments from commensal mouth microbes were sequenced from a piece of birch pitch, chewed by a woman who lived c. 5700 years ago (Jensen et al 2019).…”