Fossilized bighorn sheep poop reveals early Holocene population

Genetic analysis of fossilized poop reveals early bighorn sheep population on Mexican island

2014-03-19

(Press-News.org) Genetic analysis of ancient poop found off the coast of Mexico suggests bighorn sheep may be native to the island, according to a paper published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on March 19, 2014 by Benjamin Wilder from University of California Riverside and colleagues.

Bighorn sheep were not thought to inhabit Tiburón Island, the largest island in the Gulf of California and Mexico, prior to their introduction in 1975. Scientists discovered fossilized dung in the mountains of Tiburón Island that challenges that assumption. Scientists compared the pellet-shaped poop to fecal pellets of other large mammals and extracted DNA to sequence and determine the origin.

Carbon dating suggests the poop originated about 1470-1630 years ago. Genetic analysis confirmed that the dung belonged to bighorn sheep, similar to those found in southern Arizona and California, but different from the extant Tiburón population. The identification of ancient bighorn sheep on the island that the species was native to Tiburón Island.

"This finding raises a host of fascinating questions", says Wilder, "Are bighorn sheep on Tiburón Island a restoration or a biological invasion? This extended biological baseline confirms that the Tiburón bighorn sheep went extinct before. Given the cultural and conservation significance of the unintentionally rewilded population, actions can be taken to avoid the same fate."

The authors suggest that native desert bighorn sheep may have previously colonized this island when lower sea levels connected Tiburón to the mainland, most likely during the Pleistocene. They were likely eliminated within in the last ~1500 years, probably due to inherent dynamics of isolated populations, prolonged drought, or human overkill.

INFORMATION:

Citation: Wilder BT, Betancourt JL, Epps CW, Crowhurst RS, Mead JI, et al. (2014) Local Extinction and Unintentional Rewilding of Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) on a Desert Island. PLoS ONE 9(3): e91358. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091358

Financial Disclosure: Funding was provided by a UC MEXUS Dissertation Grant and a NSF Graduate Research fellowship to Wilder. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends): http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091358

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Bighorn sheep went extinct on desert island in Gulf of California, study finds

2014-03-19

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Using ancient DNA analysis and other techniques, a research team led by conservation biologists at the University of California, Riverside has determined that bighorn sheep, so named for their massive spiral horns, became extinct on Tiburón Island, a large and mostly uninhabited island just off Sonora, Mexico, in the Gulf of California, sometime in the last millennium — specifically between the 6th and 19th centuries. The result, published March 19 in PLOS ONE, is a surprise because conventional wisdom among wildlife biologists and the indigenous Seri ...

A 'chicken from hell' dinosaur

2014-03-19

SALT LAKE CITY, March 19, 2014 – Scientists from Carnegie and Smithsonian museums and the University of Utah today unveiled the discovery, naming and description of a sharp-clawed, 500-pound, bird-like dinosaur that roamed the Dakotas with T. rex 66 million years ago and looked like an 11 ½-foot-long "chicken from hell." "It was a giant raptor, but with a chicken-like head and presumably feathers. The animal stood about 10 feet tall, so it would be scary as well as absurd to encounter," says University of Utah biology postdoctoral fellow Emma Schachner, a co-author of ...

Smithsonian collaborates with paleontologist team to reveal new large, feathered dinosaur

2014-03-19

A team of scientists from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the University of Utah has described an unusual bird-like dinosaur previously unknown to science, resembling a cross between a modern emu and a reptile. The new species, Anzu wyliei, lived 68 to 66 million years ago and was identified from three partial skeletons collected from the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation in North and South Dakota. The species belongs to Oviraptorosauria, a group of dinosaurs mostly known from fossils found in Central ...

Paleontologists announce discovery of Anzu wyliei

2014-03-19

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…A team of researchers has announced the discovery of a bizarre, bird-like dinosaur, named Anzu wyliei, that provides paleontologists with their first good look at a dinosaur group that has been shrouded in mystery for almost a century. Anzu was described from three specimens that collectively preserve almost the entire skeleton, giving scientists a remarkable opportunity to study the anatomy and evolutionary relationships of Caenagnathidae (pronounced SEE-nuh-NAY-thih-DAY)—the long-mysterious group of theropod dinosaurs to which Anzu belongs. The ...

High-frequency breathing support for premature babies could lead to better lung function

2014-03-19

A new study led by researchers at King's College London has found that premature babies supported immediately after birth by high-frequency oscillation - a type of breathing support - had better lung function as adolescents than those who received conventional ventilation. The children ventilated with the high frequency method also showed higher academic achievement in three of eight school subjects. The findings of the research, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre ...

Studies advance potential use Of MRI magnetic fields to treat balance disorders

2014-03-19

Expanding on earlier research, Johns Hopkins researchers report that people with balance disorders or dizziness traceable to an inner-ear disturbance show distinctive abnormal eye movements when the affected ear is exposed to the strong pull of an MRI's magnetic field. The researchers first reported in 2011 in the journal Current Biology that an MRI's magnetic field pushes on the inner ear fluid responsible for maintaining balance, causing subjects undergoing MRI scans to have jerky eye movements and dizziness. Two new studies now suggest that these strong magnets could ...

New guidelines deem 13 million more Americans eligible for statins

2014-03-19

DURHAM, N.C. – New guidelines for using statins to treat high cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular disease are projected to result in 12.8 million more U.S. adults taking the drugs, according to a research team led by Duke Medicine scientists. The findings for the first time quantify the impact of the American Heart Association's new guidelines, which were issued in November and generated both controversy and speculation about who should be given a prescription for statins. In an analysis of health data published online March 19, 2014, in the New England Journal ...

Tracking endangered leatherback sea turtles by satellite, key habitats identified

2014-03-19

AMHERST, Mass. ¬– A first-of-its-kind satellite tagging study of migrating New England leatherback turtles in the North Atlantic offers a greatly improved understanding of their seasonal high-use habitats, diving activity and response to key ocean and environmental features in relation to their search behavior. Leatherbacks are considered endangered species in all the world's oceans. The study, part of doctoral research by Kara Dodge supervised by her advisor, Molly Lutcavage of the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Large Pelagics Research Center (LPRC) in Gloucester, ...

North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute doctors' editorial published

2014-03-19

LAKE SUCCESS, NY – Two North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute doctors, world-renowned for their research in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), weigh in on a German study of a new drug therapy for CLL in the March 20 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, the North Shore-LIJ Health System announced today. CLL is one of the most common forms of blood cancers, usually affecting those later in life. In an editorial written by Kanti Rai, MD, chief of CLL Research and Treatment Program for the health system, and Jacqueline Barrientos, MD, a research hematologist on staff ...

Dry future climate could reduce orchid bee habitat

2014-03-19

ITHACA, N.Y. – During Pleistocene era climate changes, neotropical orchid bees that relied on year-round warmth and wet weather found their habitats reduced by 30 to 50 percent, according to a Cornell University study that used computer models and genetic data to understand bee distributions during past climate changes. In previous studies, researchers have tracked male and female orchid bees and found that while females stay near their nests, male orchid bees travel, with one study concluding they roam as far as 7 kilometers per day. These past findings, corroborated ...

Fossilized bighorn sheep poop reveals early Holocene population

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: