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- Title
Rise and fall of the Beringian steppe bison.
- Authors
Shapiro, Beth; Drummond, Alexei J; Rambaut, Andrew; Wilson, Michael C; Matheus, Paul E; Sher, Andrei V; Pybus, Oliver G; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Barnes, Ian; Binladen, Jonas; Willerslev, Eske; Hansen, Anders J; Baryshnikov, Gennady F; Burns, James A; Davydov, Sergei; Driver, Jonathan C; Froese, Duane G; Harington, C Richard; Keddie, Grant; Kosintsev, Pavel; Kunz, Michael L; Martin, Larry D; Stephenson, Robert O; Storer, John; Tedford, Richard; Zimov, Sergei; Cooper, Alan
- Abstract
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.
- Publication
Science (New York, N.Y.), 2004, Vol 306, Issue 5701, p1561
- ISSN
1095-9203
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1126/science.1101074