Archaeogenetic evidence for medieval occurrence of Atlantic sturgeon<i>Acipenser oxyrinchus</i>in the North Sea

Nikulina, Elena A.; Schmölcke, Ulrich

doi:10.1179/1749631415y.0000000022

Cited by 4 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…These are Neustadt, 4000 bc (western Baltic Sea), Kettig, 700–600 bc (river Rhine), Bentumersiel, 100 bc to ad 300 (Ems), Feddersen Wierde, 100 bc to ad 500 (Weser), and Elisenhof, main occupation phase ad 700–1000 (Eider). From the Elbe river, ancient DNA analyses of seven about 800‐year‐old sturgeon bones from one of its tributaries (Stör river, site Itzehoe) were published recently (Nikulina & Schmölcke, ) and complete our evaluation and discussion. The sites represent the complete geographic coverage of the German Bight in the eastern North Sea (Tables & S1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Morphological differences between the European and the Atlantic sturgeon had been identified in the 1960s for the first time (Magnin, ), and today discriminating archaeological remains is an established technique and, in many cases, it allows determining well‐preserved single skeletal elements from sturgeons down to species level (Vasil'eva, ; Nikulina & Schmölcke, ; Thieren et al ., were published after finishing this manuscript). However, because of intraspecific variation or hybridization (Artyukhin & Vecsei, ; Tiedemann et al ., ; Van Neer et al ., ), bones with intermediate features are also common and this could potentially be a considerable source of identification errors (Ludwig et al ., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of these samples originate from the 19th or early 20th century and therefore shed light only on the situation during modern times directly before extinction (Ludwig et al ., ). The only exception being scutes excavated in 800‐year‐old layers of the ringfort Itzehoe on a northern tributary of the Elbe, which have recently been identified genetically as Atlantic sturgeon (Nikulina & Schmölcke, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reconstruction of the historical distribution of sturgeons (Acipenseridae) in the eastern North Atlantic based on ancientDNAand bone morphology of archaeological remains: implications for conservation and restoration programmes

Nikulina

Schmölcke

2016

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim In the 19th/early 20th century, overfishing caused a drastic decline and finally extinction of the local sturgeon populations in the eastern Atlantic. To date, it is not known whether it was Acipenser sturio or the primarily North American Acipenser oxyrinchus that occurred here. The aim of the study was to show the historical pattern of sturgeon distribution and their diversity in this area over the last 2500 years. This question is essential for international restoration programmes. Location North‐east Atlantic. Methods The study is based on 438 archaeological sturgeon remains from the estuaries of the rivers Rhine, Ems, Weser, Elbe and Eider. All bones were analysed morphologically and in 38 cases genetically by the amplification of two mitochondrial DNA fragments. Results The data from the bones older than 1000 years show that only 1.4% derive from A. sturio. In the south, this species was slightly more frequent. From the Elbe northwards, A. oxyrinchus was for a long time by far the dominant sturgeon species. Main conclusions The genetic identification of the oldest sturgeon bone shows A. oxyrinchus occurred in the north‐eastern Atlantic already 6000 years ago. Consequently, the immigration of this species from North America to Europe occurred even earlier, potentially during the last glacial. The north–south occurrence of the two sturgeon species suggests that the distribution was the result of interspecific competition under different and changing environmental conditions. As previously published, genetic data from about 100‐ to 200‐year‐old museum specimens show strong dominance of A. sturio in the North Sea area, obviously A. oxyrinchus has been replaced in the time between 1000 and 200 years ago. Therefore, the Holocene distribution of sturgeons in the north‐east Atlantic had a complex pattern. Determining the ecological bases of this distribution is important for the justification and success of restoration programmes.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reconstruction of the historical distribution of sturgeons (Acipenseridae) in the eastern North Atlantic based on ancientDNAand bone morphology of archaeological remains: implications for conservation and restoration programmes

Nikulina

Schmölcke

2016

Diversity and Distributions

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“…This result corresponds well with a reconstruction of the prehistoric distribution of the Atlantic sturgeon in the North Sea: the aDNA extracted from more than 40 bony plates from several archaeological sites along the coastline conducted at the ZBSA proves that the Atlantic sturgeon was the dominant species in that area during prehistoric and historic times. The occurrence of the European sturgeon ranged only from south European waters up to approximately the mouth of the Rhine (Nikulina, Schmölcke, 2015a;Nikulina, Schmölcke in preparation). However, since, on the other hand, previously published genetic data from about 100 to 200-year-old museum specimens show a strong dominance of the European sturgeon in the North Sea area (Ludwig et al 2002), A. oxyrinchus must have been replaced by this species some time in the course of the second half of the last millennium.…”

Section: Baltica 23mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The focus of the research has been several wild mammal, bird, reptile and fish species (e.g. Sommer et al 2009;Fraser et al 2012;Bray et al 2013;Herman et al 2014;Horn et al 2014;Nikulina, Schmölcke 2015a, 2015b, as well as domestic cattle, pigs and dogs (Nikulina, Schmölcke 2008Scheu et al 2008;Krause-Kyora et al 2013;Zhilin et al 2014;Niemi et al 2015). In particular, the genetic analysis of well-preserved teeth and bones to identify the species, the so-called DNA bar-coding, is reasonably priced and can be undertaken, for instance, in cooperation with the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA) in Schleswig, Germany, with its specialised laboratory for ancient animal DNA (Nikulina, Schmölcke 2010).…”

Section: O N C L U S I O N Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Hair, Bone Plates and Coprolites: Ancient DNA Research on Rare Archaeological Materials

Nikulina¹

2016

Archaeologia Baltica

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The article describes the possibilities and limitations of ancient DNA research on organic materials that are usually not the focus of archaeogenetics, because of their low preservation potential and thus rareness in archaeological settings. These are remains from fish and birds, animal hairs, and coprolites. Several of the author's own key studies from different regions and time periods are presented.

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Tropical ancient DNA from bulk archaeological fish bone reveals the subsistence practices of a historic coastal community in southwest Madagascar

Grealy

Douglass

Haile

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Taxonomic identification of archaeological fish bones provides important insights into the subsistence practices of ancient coastal peoples. However, it can be difficult to execute robust morphological identification of fish bones from species-rich fossil assemblages, especially from post-cranial material with few distinguishing features. Fragmentation, weathering and burning further impede taxonomic identification, resulting in large numbers of unidentifiable bones from archaeological sites. This limitation can be somewhat mitigated by taking an ancient DNA (aDNA) bulk-bone metabarcoding (BBM) approach to faunal identification, where DNA from nondiagnostic bone fragments is extracted and sequenced in parallel. However, a large proportion of fishing communities (both past and present) live in tropical regions that have sub-optimal conditions for long-term aDNA preservation. To date, the BBM method has never been applied to fish bones before, or to fossils excavated from an exposed context within a tropical climate. Here, we demonstrate that morphologically indistinct bulk fish bone from the tropics can be identified by sequencing aDNA extracted from 100-300 ya archaeological midden material in southwest Madagascar. Despite the biases of the approach, we rapidly obtained family, genus, and specieslevel assemblage information, and used this to describe a subset of the ichthyofauna exploited by an 18 th century fishing community. We identified 23 families of fish, including benthic, pelagic, and coral-dwelling fishes, suggesting a reliance on a variety of marine and brackish habitats. When possible, BBM should be used alongside osteological approaches to address the limitations of both; however, this

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Archaeogenetic evidence for medieval occurrence of Atlantic sturgeonAcipenser oxyrinchusin the North Sea

Cited by 4 publications

References 25 publications

Reconstruction of the historical distribution of sturgeons (Acipenseridae) in the eastern North Atlantic based on ancientDNAand bone morphology of archaeological remains: implications for conservation and restoration programmes

Reconstruction of the historical distribution of sturgeons (Acipenseridae) in the eastern North Atlantic based on ancientDNAand bone morphology of archaeological remains: implications for conservation and restoration programmes

Hair, Bone Plates and Coprolites: Ancient DNA Research on Rare Archaeological Materials

Tropical ancient DNA from bulk archaeological fish bone reveals the subsistence practices of a historic coastal community in southwest Madagascar

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