Molecular coproscopy: dung and diet of the extinct ground sloth Nothrotheriops shastensis.
DNA from excrements can be amplified by means of the polymerase chain reaction. However, this has not been possible with ancient feces. Cross-links between reducing sugars and amino groups were shown to exist in a Pleistocene coprolite from Gypsum Cave, Nevada. A chemical agent, N-phenacylthiazolium bromide, that cleaves such cross-links made it possible to amplify DNA sequences. Analyses of these DNA sequences showed that the coprolite is derived from an extinct sloth, presumably the Shasta ground sloth Nothrotheriops shastensis. Plant DNA sequences from seven groups of plants were identified in the coprolite. The plant assemblage that formed part of the sloth's diet exists today at elevations about 800 meters higher than the cave.
Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Zoological Institute, University of Munich, Luisenstrasse 14, D-80333 Munich, Germany.
H N
HN
Poinar
M
M
Hofreiter
W G
WG
Spaulding
P S
PS
Martin
B A
BA
Stankiewicz
H
H
Bland
R P
RP
Evershed
G
G
Possnert
S
S
Pääbo
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004032:Diet; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D005580:Fossils; D015416:Maillard Reaction; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase / Q000235:genetics; D012896:Sloths / Q000235:genetics; D013844:Thiazoles
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D018744:DNA, Plant; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; C101705:N-phenacylthiazolium bromide; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; C075526:RNA, ribosomal, 12S; D013844:Thiazoles; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase