A molecular analysis of ground sloth diet through the last glaciation

Abstract

DNA was extracted from five coprolites, excavated in Gypsum Cave, Nevada and radiocarbon dated to approximately 11 000, 20 000 and 28 500 years BP. All coprolites contained mitochondrial DNA sequences identical to a DNA sequence determined from a bone of the extinct ground sloth Nothrotheriops shastensis. A 157-bp fragment of the chloroplast gene for the large subunit of the ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) was amplified from the boluses and several hundred clones were sequenced. In addition, the same DNA fragment was sequenced from 99 plant species that occur in the vicinity of Gypsum Cave today. When these were compared to the DNA sequences in GenBank, 69 were correctly (two incorrectly) assigned to taxonomic orders. The plant sequences from the five coprolites as well as from one previously studied coprolite were compared to rbcL sequences in GenBank and the contemporary plant species. Thirteen families or orders of plants that formed part of the diet of the Shasta ground sloth could be identified, showing that the ground sloth was feeding on trees as well as herbs and grasses. The plants in the boluses further indicate that the climate 11 000 years BP was dryer than 20 000 and 28 500 years BP. However, the sloths seem to have visited water sources more frequently at 11 000 BP than at earlier times.

Molecular analysis for investigating dietary habits: genetic screening of prey items in scat and stomach contents of leopard cats Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus

“…We used a well-known universal primer for chlorophyll (Hofreiter et al 2000) to analyze specimens of plants in the current study, but unfortunately, the genetic analysis was unsuccessful. When using traditional analytical methods, such as cuticular and medullary patterns of hair and morphological analysis of fecal prey items, it is difficult to identify prey items to the species level; however, the use of sequencing in conjunction with the DGGE technique enables efficient identification to species level.…”

Quaternary mammals from central Brazil (Serra da Bodoquena, Mato Grosso do Sul) and comments on paleobiogeography and paleoenvironments

“…Although there are several evidences that support an opportunistic browsing or mixed feeding strategy for Nothrotheriops shastensis (Poinar et al, 1998;Hofreiter et al, 2000), Green (2009) found a more abrasive diet based on a dental microwear analysis, which could be explained by the consume of grasses.…”

Diet Analysis of Leopoldamys Neilli, a Cave-dwelling Rodent in Southeast Asia, Using Next-Generation Sequencing from Feces

“…A 202bp fragment of the rbcL gene was amplified for each sample using universal primers Z1aF and hp2R (Hofreiter et al, 2000), modified by the addition of a specific tag on the 59 end, following the tagging and multiplexing method for the 454 pyrosequencing developed by Galan et al (2010). This tag consists of a short 7bp sequence to allow the recognition of the sequences after the pyrosequencing where all the PCR products from the different samples are mixed together and a 30bp Titanium adaptor required for the emPCR and 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing using Lib-L Titanium Series reagents.…”