TY  - JOUR
A1  - González-Fortes, Gloria M.
A1  - Kolbe, Ben
A1  - Fernandes, Daniel
A1  - Meleg, Ioana N.
A1  - Garcia-Vazquez, Ana
A1  - Pinto-Llona, Ana C.
A1  - Constantin, Silviu
A1  - de Torres, Trino J.
A1  - Ortiz, Jose E.
A1  - Frischauf, Christine
A1  - Rabeder, Gernot
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
A1  - Barlow, Axel
T1  - Ancient DNA reveals differences in behaviour and sociality between brown bears and extinct cave bears
JF  - Molecular ecology
N2  - Ancient DNA studies have revolutionized the study of extinct species and populations, providing insights on phylogeny, phylogeography, admixture and demographic history. However, inferences on behaviour and sociality have been far less frequent. Here, we investigate the complete mitochondrial genomes of extinct Late Pleistocene cave bears and middle Holocene brown bears that each inhabited multiple geographically proximate caves in northern Spain. In cave bears, we find that, although most caves were occupied simultaneously, each cave almost exclusively contains a unique lineage of closely related haplotypes. This remarkable pattern suggests extreme fidelity to their birth site in cave bears, best described as homing behaviour, and that cave bears formed stable maternal social groups at least for hibernation. In contrast, brown bears do not show any strong association of mitochondrial lineage and cave, suggesting that these two closely related species differed in aspects of their behaviour and sociality. This difference is likely to have contributed to cave bear extinction, which occurred at a time in which competition for caves between bears and humans was likely intense and the ability to rapidly colonize new hibernation sites would have been crucial for the survival of a species so dependent on caves for hibernation as cave bears. Our study demonstrates the potential of ancient DNA to uncover patterns of behaviour and sociality in ancient species and populations, even those that went extinct many tens of thousands of years ago.
KW  - ancient DNA
KW  - extinction
KW  - homing
KW  - sociality
KW  - Ursus arctos
KW  - Ursus spelaeus
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13800
SN  - 0962-1083
SN  - 1365-294X
VL  - 25
SP  - 4907
EP  - 4918
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Speller, Camilla
A1  - van den Hurk, Youri
A1  - Charpentier, Anne
A1  - Rodrigues, Ana
A1  - Gardeisen, Armelle
A1  - Wilkens, Barbara
A1  - McGrath, Krista
A1  - Rowsell, Keri
A1  - Spindler, Luke
A1  - Collins, Matthew J.
A1  - Hofreiter, Michael
T1  - Barcoding the largest animals on Earth: ongoing challenges and molecular solutions in the taxonomic identification of ancient cetaceans
JF  - Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences
KW  - ancient DNA
KW  - archaeozoology
KW  - cetaceans
KW  - collagen peptide mass fingerprinting
KW  - species identification
KW  - zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0332
SN  - 0962-8436
SN  - 1471-2970
VL  - 371
PB  - Royal Society
CY  - London
ER  -