Identifying Bird Remains Using Ancient DNA Barcoding.

Bird remains that are difficult to identify taxonomically using morphological methods, are common in the palaeontological record. Other types of challenging avian material include artefacts and food items from endangered taxa, as well as remains from aircraft strikes. We here present a DNA-based method that enables taxonomic identification of bird remains, even from material where the DNA is heavily degraded. The method is based on the amplification and sequencing of two short variable parts of the 16S region in the mitochondrial genome. To demonstrate the applicability of this approach, we evaluated the method on a set of Holocene and Late Pleistocene postcranial bird bones from several palaeontological and archaeological sites in Europe with good success

Range shifts or extinction? Ancient DNA and distribution modelling reveal past and future responses to climate warming in cold-adapted birds.

Global warming is predicted to cause substantial habitat rearrangements, with the most severe effects expected to occur in high-latitude biomes. However, one major uncertainty is whether species will be able to shift their ranges to keep pace with climate-driven environmental changes. Many recent studies on mammals have shown that past range contractions have been associated with local extinctions rather than survival by habitat tracking. Here, we have used an interdisciplinary approach that combines ancient DNA techniques, coalescent simulations and species distribution modelling, to investigate how two common cold-adapted bird species, willow and rock ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus and Lagopus muta), respond to long-term climate warming. Contrary to previous findings in mammals, we demonstrate a genetic continuity in Europe over the last 20 millennia. Results from back-casted species distribution models suggest that this continuity may have been facilitated by uninterrupted habitat availability and potentially also the greater dispersal ability of birds. However, our predictions show that in the near future, some isolated regions will have little suitable habitat left, implying a future decrease in local populations at a scale unprecedented since the last glacial maximum

Avian Signatures for Identity and Status in Anglo-Saxon England

The presence and diversity of wild bird remains recovered from archaeological sites can be used to explore questions beyond mere subsistence strategies and wildfowling techniques. A survey of 26 avian assemblages from English Anglo-Saxon vertebrate assemblages (broadly classified into settlement types) was undertaken in order to assess if interpretable patterns of data, reflecting attributes linked to the broader nature and character of settlements and their inhabitants, could be recovered. A more limited range of species were noted from ecclesiastical rural and early trading emporia (wics) compared with the high status estate and urban centres. A case study (using data from the well stratified assemblage from Flixborough, UK), supported broad conclusions drawn from the original survey by highlighting a possible ecclesiastical avian ‘signature’ at this site during the 9th century, with elements associated with high status identified from the 8th and 10th centuries. Further, more detailed, consideration of individual avian species (particularly Gruidae, Ardeidae and raptors) also suggest their association with particular categories of sites and their significance in identifying high status pursuits such as falconry

A tiny short-legged bird from the early Oligocene of Poland

We describe an articulated partial leg of an Oligocene bird. It is one of the smallest avian fossils ever recorded. Its slender and exceptionally short tarsometatarsus, hallux as long as the tarsometatarsus and stout moderately curved claws agree with stem-group Apodidae (swifts), stem-group Trochilidae (hummingbirds), and stem-group Upupidae/Phoeniculidae (hoopoes/woodhoopoes). Unfortunately, due to the poor preservation of the specimen its more precise affinities remain unresolved. The specimen differs in many details from all other tiny Palaeogene birds and therefore most probably it represents a new taxon but it is too fragmentary to describe it. It is just the twelfth avian fossil from the Oligocene marine deposits of the Outer Carpathians and Central Palaeogene Basin — a huge area that covers south-eastern Poland, north-eastern Czech Republic and northern Slovakia — and therefore it adds to our very limited knowledge on the avifauna of that region. The remains of land birds from Jamna Dolna and other sites of the region can be attributed to the general sea level fall at that time, which led to limitation of the connection with the open ocean and resulted in many shallow shoals, temporary islands and exposed dry land areas along the coast

A new species of the late Miocene charadriiform bird (Aves: Charadriiformes), with a summary of all Paleogene and Miocene Charadrii remains

Bochenski, Zbigniew M., Wertz, Krzysztof, Tomek, Teresa, Gorobets, Leonid (2019): A new species of the late Miocene charadriiform bird (Aves: Charadriiformes), with a summary of all Paleogene and Miocene Charadrii remains. Zootaxa 4624 (1): 41-58, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4624.1.