Rise and fall of the Beringian steppe bison.
The widespread extinctions of large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene epoch have often been attributed to the depredations of humans; here we present genetic evidence that questions this assumption. We used ancient DNA and Bayesian techniques to reconstruct a detailed genetic history of bison throughout the late Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. Our analyses depict a large diverse population living throughout Beringia until around 37,000 years before the present, when the population's genetic diversity began to decline dramatically. The timing of this decline correlates with environmental changes associated with the onset of the last glacial cycle, whereas archaeological evidence does not support the presence of large populations of humans in Eastern Beringia until more than 15,000 years later.
Shapiro
Beth
B
Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX13PS, UK.
Drummond
Alexei J
AJ
Rambaut
Andrew
A
Wilson
Michael C
MC
Matheus
Paul E
PE
Sher
Andrei V
AV
Pybus
Oliver G
OG
Gilbert
M Thomas P
MT
Barnes
Ian
I
Binladen
Jonas
J
Willerslev
Eske
E
Hansen
Anders J
AJ
Baryshnikov
Gennady F
GF
Burns
James A
JA
Davydov
Sergei
S
Driver
Jonathan C
JC
Froese
Duane G
DG
Harington
C Richard
CR
Keddie
Grant
G
Kosintsev
Pavel
P
Kunz
Michael L
ML
Martin
Larry D
LD
Stephenson
Robert O
RO
Storer
John
J
Tedford
Richard
R
Zimov
Sergei
S
Cooper
Alan
A
D000413:Alaska; D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D016164:Bison / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D002170:Canada; D002681:China; D002980:Climate; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004777:Environment; D005580:Fossils; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans; D009656:North America; D010802:Phylogeny; D011157:Population Dynamics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013995:Time
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial