An ‛Aukward' Tale: A Genetic Approach to Discover the Whereabouts of the Last Great Auks.

Jessica E Thomas,M Thomas P Gilbert,Marcela Sandoval-Velasco,Jonas Niemann,Jose A Samaniego Castruita,Michael Knapp,John R Stewart,Mikkel-Holger S Sinding,Michael Hofreiter,Michael D Martin,Errol Fuller,James Haile,Gary R Carvalho,Jon Fjeldså,Nicolas J Rawlence

doi:10.3390/genes8060164

Abstract

One hundred and seventy-three years ago, the last two Great Auks, Pinguinus impennis, ever reliably seen were killed. Their internal organs can be found in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, but the location of their skins has remained a mystery. In 1999, Great Auk expert Errol Fuller proposed a list of five potential candidate skins in museums around the world. Here we take a palaeogenomic approach to test which—if any—of Fuller’s candidate skins likely belong to either of the two birds. Using mitochondrial genomes from the five candidate birds (housed in museums in Bremen, Brussels, Kiel, Los Angeles, and Oldenburg) and the organs of the last two known individuals, we partially solve the mystery that has been on Great Auk scholars’ minds for generations and make new suggestions as to the whereabouts of the still-missing skin from these two birds.

Highlights

Over the past three decades, the field of ancient DNA has grown considerably, from sequencing a small section of mitochondrial DNA from the Quagga, an extinct form of the plains zebra to8,whole genome sequencing from samples up to 735,000 years old [2]
Mitogenome sequence data was obtained from all candidate specimens as well as from the two oesophagi of the last Great Auks
As DNA extracted from the oesophagus of the female last Great Auk (MK132)

Summary

Introduction

Over the past three decades, the field of ancient DNA (aDNA) has grown considerably, from sequencing a small section of mitochondrial DNA from the Quagga, an extinct form of the plains zebra to8,whole genome sequencing from samples up to 735,000 years old [2]. 2 ofDNA been used to answer and address a diverse range of ecological and evolutionary questions, providing zebrainto [1], countless to whole genome from samples up toHowever, 735,000 years old can [2]. ADNA be aDNA useful been used to answer and address a diverse range of ecological and evolutionary questions, providing museums, for species identification and, under suitable circumstances for reconstructing insight into countless species’ pasts, including our own. ADNA can be a useful tool for the history of specimens where museum records are insufficient. This study traces the whereabouts of museums, for species identification and, under suitable circumstances for reconstructing thethe skins fromofthe last twowhere documented using a palaeogenomic approach.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion