An ‛aukward’ tale: a genetic approach to discover the whereabouts of the last Great Auks

Jessica Emma Thomas; Gary R. Carvalho; James Seymour Haile; Michael D. Martin; Jose Alfredo Samaniego Castruita; Jonas Niemann; Mikkel Holger Strander Sinding; Marcela Sandoval Velasco; Nicolas J. Rawlence; Errol Fuller; Jon Fjeldså; Michael Hofreiter; John R. Stewart; Tom Gilbert; Michael Knapp

doi:10.3390/genes8060164

An ‛aukward’ tale: a genetic approach to discover the whereabouts of the last Great Auks

Jessica Emma Thomas^*, Gary R. Carvalho, James Seymour Haile, Michael D. Martin, Jose Alfredo Samaniego Castruita, Jonas Niemann, Mikkel Holger Strander Sinding, Marcela Sandoval Velasco, Nicolas J. Rawlence, Errol Fuller, Jon Fjeldså, Michael Hofreiter, John R. Stewart, Tom Gilbert, Michael Knapp

^*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

5 Citationer (Scopus)

388 Downloads (Pure)

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.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Artikelnummer	164
Tidsskrift	Genes
Vol/bind	8
Udgave nummer	6
Antal sider	12
ISSN	2073-4425
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3390/genes8060164
Status	Udgivet - 15 jun. 2017

Adgang til dokumentet

10.3390/genes8060164Licens: CC BY

Thomas_2017_An_aukward_taleForlagets udgivne version, 11,1 MBLicens: CC BY

Andre filer og links

Link to publication in Scopus

Citationsformater

Thomas, J. E., Carvalho, G. R., Haile, J. S., Martin, M. D., Samaniego Castruita, J. A., Niemann, J., Sinding, M. H. S., Sandoval Velasco, M., Rawlence, N. J., Fuller, E., Fjeldså, J., Hofreiter, M., Stewart, J. R., Gilbert, T., & Knapp, M. (2017). An ‛aukward’ tale: a genetic approach to discover the whereabouts of the last Great Auks. Genes, 8(6), Artikel 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes8060164

Thomas, JE, Carvalho, GR, Haile, JS, Martin, MD, Samaniego Castruita, JA, Niemann, J , Sinding, MHS , Sandoval Velasco, M, Rawlence, NJ, Fuller, E, Fjeldså, J, Hofreiter, M, Stewart, JR, Gilbert, T & Knapp, M 2017, 'An ‛aukward’ tale: a genetic approach to discover the whereabouts of the last Great Auks', Genes, bind 8, nr. 6, 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes8060164

@article{ef8d3b32c3ea494d9a4075500001c9ab,

title = "An ‛aukward{\textquoteright} tale: a genetic approach to discover the whereabouts of the last Great Auks",

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{\textquoteright}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{\textquoteright} minds for generations and make new suggestions as to the whereabouts of the still-missing skin from these two birds.",

keywords = "Ancient DNA, Extinct birds, Mitochondrial genome, Museum specimens, Palaeogenomics",

author = "Thomas, {Jessica Emma} and Carvalho, {Gary R.} and Haile, {James Seymour} and Martin, {Michael D.} and {Samaniego Castruita}, {Jose Alfredo} and Jonas Niemann and Sinding, {Mikkel Holger Strander} and {Sandoval Velasco}, Marcela and Rawlence, {Nicolas J.} and Errol Fuller and Jon Fjelds{\aa} and Michael Hofreiter and Stewart, {John R.} and Tom Gilbert and Michael Knapp",

year = "2017",

month = jun,

day = "15",

doi = "10.3390/genes8060164",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

journal = "Genes",

issn = "2073-4425",

publisher = "M D P I AG",

number = "6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - An ‛aukward’ tale

T2 - a genetic approach to discover the whereabouts of the last Great Auks

AU - Thomas, Jessica Emma

AU - Carvalho, Gary R.

AU - Haile, James Seymour

AU - Martin, Michael D.

AU - Samaniego Castruita, Jose Alfredo

AU - Niemann, Jonas

AU - Sinding, Mikkel Holger Strander

AU - Sandoval Velasco, Marcela

AU - Rawlence, Nicolas J.

AU - Fuller, Errol

AU - Fjeldså, Jon

AU - Hofreiter, Michael

AU - Stewart, John R.

AU - Gilbert, Tom

AU - Knapp, Michael

PY - 2017/6/15

Y1 - 2017/6/15

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Ancient DNA

KW - Extinct birds

KW - Mitochondrial genome

KW - Museum specimens

KW - Palaeogenomics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85021165844&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/genes8060164

DO - 10.3390/genes8060164

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28617333

AN - SCOPUS:85021165844

SN - 2073-4425

VL - 8

JO - Genes

JF - Genes

IS - 6

M1 - 164

ER -

An ‛aukward’ tale: a genetic approach to discover the whereabouts of the last Great Auks

Abstract

Adgang til dokumentet

Andre filer og links

Fingeraftryk

Citationsformater