A new system for computing dentition-based age profiles in Sus scrofa

a b s t r a c t Reconstructing demographic profiles is valuable for revealing animal exploitation strategies at archaeological sites. For pig (Sus scrofa), the method presented by The study presented here is part of ongoing research aimed at developing new methods for the construction of S. scrofa demographic profiles based on both dentition and long bone fusion. In this paper, we present the results of a study of eruption and wear patterns in a large modern assemblage of wild boar which provides the basis for a new method for constructing pig harvest profiles and addresses some of the most serious limitations of Grant's earlier study. The utility of this method in detecting subtle differences in pig prey/harvest profiles is demonstrated through its application to three Near Eastern archaeological assemblages from three distinct time periods: Bronze Age Tell Leilan, Halafian Banahilk, and Epipaleolithic Hallan Çemi, where residents likely employed widely different pig exploitation strategies. The results of these case studies demonstrate the ability of this method to reliably reconstruct age demography and distinguish age profiles between sites with different animal procurement strategies. This method provides a standardized means of collecting accurate and reliable age data crucial in examining patterns of past pig exploitation

Holocene deglaciation drove rapid genetic diversification of Atlantic walrus

Peer reviewed: TrueFunder: H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010665; Grant(s): ArchSci2020: 676154, NWO Veni Grant No. 016.Veni.195.018, SeaChanges: 813383, TALENT : 801199Rapid global warming is severely impacting Arctic ecosystems and is predicted to transform the abundance, distribution and genetic diversity of Arctic species, though these linkages are poorly understood. We address this gap in knowledge using palaeogenomics to examine how earlier periods of global warming influenced the genetic diversity of Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus), a species closely associated with sea ice and shallow-water habitats. We analysed 82 ancient and historical Atlantic walrus mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes), including now-extinct populations in Iceland and the Canadian Maritimes, to reconstruct the Atlantic walrus' response to Arctic deglaciation. Our results demonstrate that the phylogeography and genetic diversity of Atlantic walrus populations was initially shaped by the last glacial maximum (LGM), surviving in distinct glacial refugia, and subsequently expanding rapidly in multiple migration waves during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. The timing of diversification and establishment of distinct populations corresponds closely with the chronology of the glacial retreat, pointing to a strong link between walrus phylogeography and sea ice. Our results indicate that accelerated ice loss in the modern Arctic may trigger further dispersal events, likely increasing the connectivity of northern stocks while isolating more southerly stocks putatively caught in small pockets of suitable habitat

Holocene deglaciation drove rapid genetic diversification of Atlantic walrus

<p>Rapid global warming is severely impacting Arctic ecosystems and is predicted to transform the abundance, distribution, and genetic diversity of Arctic species, though these linkages are poorly understood. We address this gap in knowledge using palaeogenomics to examine how earlier periods of global warming influenced the genetic diversity of Atlantic walrus (<em>Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus</em>), a species closely associated with sea ice and shallow-water habitats. We analysed 82 ancient and historical Atlantic walrus mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes), including now-extinct populations in Iceland and the Canadian Maritimes, to reconstruct the Atlantic walrus' response to Arctic deglaciation. Our results demonstrate that the phylogeography and genetic diversity of Atlantic walrus populations were initially shaped by the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), surviving in distinct glacial refugia, and subsequently expanding rapidly in multiple migration waves during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. The timing of diversification and establishment of distinct populations corresponds closely with the chronology of the glacial retreat, pointing to a strong link between walrus phylogeography and sea ice. Our results indicate that accelerated ice loss in the modern Arctic may trigger further dispersal events, likely increasing the connectivity of northern stocks while isolating more southerly stocks putatively caught in small pockets of suitable habitat. </p><p>Funding provided by: European Commission<br>Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/00k4n6c32<br>Award Number: 813383</p><p>Funding provided by: European Commission<br>Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/00k4n6c32<br>Award Number: 801199</p><p>Funding provided by: European Commission<br>Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/00k4n6c32<br>Award Number: 676154</p><p>Funding provided by: Dutch Research Council<br>Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/04jsz6e67<br>Award Number: No. 016.Veni.195.018</p><p><span>The 82 mitochondrial genomes were obtained from historical and ancient specimens collected from different museums around Europe and Canada. Of these, 28 were obtained from previous publications (Keighley et al. (2019)) and 10 samples originally from Svalbard obtained from Star et al. (2018). Ancient DNA laboratory work was undertaken at the Globe Institute from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark following stric aDNA laboratory guidelines. </span><span>Shotgun sequencing was performed on a range of Illumina technologies (MiSeq, HiSeq 2500 and HiSeq 4000) at the Danish National High-throughput Sequencing Centre. Throughout all laboratory work, samples were randomly given a unique sample number, with different groupings for extraction, library build, amplification, and sequencing to ensure no clustering of samples from a particular locality or time period. Samples run on the Illumina HiSeq 4000 were dual-indexed due to the risk of index-hopping </span><span><a href="https://paperpile.com/c/LLJ9GR/qVtQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">(Van der Valk et al. 2020)</a></span><span>.<span> Reads were trimmed, filtered, and aligned using the PALEOMIX (v1.2.13.4) BAM pipeline </span><span><a href="https://paperpile.com/c/5bXJcW/582w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">(Schubert et al. 2014)</a></span><span>.</span></span></p&gt