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Beth Shapiro,1,2Alexei J. Drummond,2Andrew Rambaut,2Michael C. Wilson,3Paul E. Matheus,4Andrei V. Sher,5Oliver G. Pybus,2M. Thomas P. Gilbert,1,2Ian Barnes,6Jonas Binladen,7Eske Willerslev,1,7Anders J. Hansen,7Gennady F. Baryshnikov,8James A. Burns,9Sergei Davydov,10Jonathan C. Driver,11Duane G. Froese,12C. Richard Harington,13Grant Keddie,14Pavel Kosintsev,15Michael L. Kunz,16Larry D. Martin,17Robert O. Stephenson,18John Storer,19Richard Tedford,20Sergei Zimov,10Alan Cooper1,2*
The widespread extinctions of large mammals at the end of thePleistocene epoch have often been attributed to the depredationsof humans; here we present genetic evidence that questions thisassumption. We used ancient DNA and Bayesian techniques to reconstructa detailed genetic history of bison throughout the late Pleistoceneand Holocene epochs. Our analyses depict a large diverse populationliving throughout Beringia until around 37,000 years beforethe present, when the population's genetic diversity began todecline dramatically. The timing of this decline correlateswith environmental changes associated with the onset of thelast glacial cycle, whereas archaeological evidence does notsupport the presence of large populations of humans in EasternBeringia until more than 15,000 years later.
1 Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX13PS, UK. 2 Department of Zoology, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX13PS, UK. 3 Department of Geology and Department of Anthropology, Douglas College, Post Office Box 2503, New Westminster, British Columbia V3L 5B2, Canada. 4 Alaska Quaternary Center and Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 900 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775–5940, USA. 5 Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninsky Prospect, 119071 Moscow, Russia. 6 The Centre for Genetic Anthropology, Department of Biology, Darwin Building, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. 7 Department of Evolutionary Biology, Zoological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15–2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. 8 Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia. 9 Quaternary Paleontology, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T5N 0M6, Canada. 10 North-East Scientific Station of Russian Academy of Science, Post Office Box 18, Cherskii, Republic Sakha-Yakutia, Russia. 11 Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada. 12 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada. 13 Canadian Museum of Nature (Paleobiology), Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6P4, Canada. 14 Department of Archaeology, Royal British Columbia Museum, 675 Belleville Street, Victoria, British Columbia V8V 1X4, Canada. 15 Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 202 8 Martas Street, Ekaterinburg 620144, Russia. 16 Bureau of Land Management, 1150 University Avenue, Fairbanks, AK 99708 USA. 17 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. 18 Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 1300 College Road, Fairbanks, AK 99701, USA. 19 Yukon Paleontologist, Heritage Resources, Yukon Department of Tourism and Culture, Box 2703, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory YTY1A 2C6, Canada. 20 Department of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: alan.cooper{at}zoo.ox.ac.uk
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