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Coprolites, Paleogenomics and Bone Content Analysis

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Azokh Cave and the Transcaucasian Corridor

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

Abstract

Coprolites are fossil scats and provide indirect witness of the activity of past animals of a given area, whether or not fossil bones of these animals are present in the site. The shape, size, inclusions and geo- and bio-chemical composition are criteria for identification of the animal that left the coprolite. Unit II from Azokh 1 has yielded two complete undamaged coprolites one of which contained partially digested fossil bones. Taphonomic and taxonomic indications from this coprolite could not conclusively identify the origin of the coprolites. Analysis of targeted mitochondrial DNA, performed on one of the coprolites, has provided evidence for the presence of hyena DNA, but this finding was not supported by further investigation using next-generation high throughput sequencing. The most parsimonious interpretation of the results of the genetic analyses is that the highly sensitive PCR assay reveals contamination of the coprolite with minute amounts of modern brown hyena DNA presumably originating from brown hyena scats sampled recently in South Africa.

Резюме

Следы активности травоядных и плотоядных животных главным образом распознаются по отпечаткам конечностей и экскрементам. Стоянки с хорошей сохранностью древних останков могут содержать копролиты (окаменелые экскременты животных) и следы троп травоядных и плотоядных, как это наблюдается в плио-плейстоценовой стоянке Летоли (Танзания). Наиболее часто, однако, встречаются копролиты плотоядных (среди них, главным образом, гиен), чем травоядных. Первые грызут и поедают кости, включая тем самым фосфат кальция в органические остатки фекалий, в то время как последние поедают растительные волокна и семена, которые разлагаются намного легче. Форма, размер, включения, гео- и биохимический состав являются основными критериями для идентификации животного, оставившего эти фекалии. В подразделении II из Азох 1 найдены два неповрежденных копролита. Тафономические и таксономические признаки не были достаточно убедительными для надежного установления их происхождения. При проведении сайт-специфичной реакции полимеразной цепи (РПЦ) в одном из копролитов обнаружены последовательности митохондриальной ДНК бурой гиены (Hyaena brunnea). Последующее секвенирование не выявило значительного присутствия эндогенной ДНК хищника; в основном были найдены бактериальные последовательности со следами человеческой ДНК – возможно, по причине контаминации. Наибоее простым объяснением результатов генетического анализа является то, что чувствительный метод РПЦ идентифицирует контаминацию копролитов ничтожно малым количеством ДНК бурой гиены, привнесенным, возможно, из современных экскрементов данного вида, собранных в Южной Африке. Высокопроизводительное секвенирование не обнаружило эндогенной ДНК хищника. В целом, несохранность эндогенной ДНК характерна для всех биологических останков в Азохской пещере, проанализированных до настоящего времени, поскольку мы не смогли найти данный субстрат и в многочисленных костях пещерного медведя.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh for permissions to work on these specimens. We thank the Electron Microscopy Unit of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales for their careful and professional work, Teresa Sanz for pictures taken of the coprolites before processing and Pablo Silva for pictures of modern bears. The authors are also grateful to M.D. Pesquero for providing coprolite measurements from La Roma site. We thank Corinne Esser from the Zoo Fauverie du Mont Faron, France, for providing hair and scats of brown hyenas. The authors are grateful to comments from Mark Lewis, Nigel Larkin, the three anonymous reviewers and the editor in charge (Peter Andrews) who greatly improved this chapter.

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  1. Institut Jacques Monod. Laboratoire “Epigénome et Paléogénome”, 15, Rue Hélène Brion, 75013, Paris, France

    E. Andrew Bennett, Olivier Gorgé, Thierry Grange & Eva-Maria Geigl

  2. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Yolanda Fernández-Jalvo

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  1. Dept of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain

    Yolanda Fernández-Jalvo

  2. Blandford Town Museum, Yerevan, Armenia

    Tania King

  3. Yerevan, Armenia

    Levon Yepiskoposyan

  4. Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom

    Peter Andrews

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Bennett, E.A., Gorgé, O., Grange, T., Fernández-Jalvo, Y., Geigl, EM. (2016). Coprolites, Paleogenomics and Bone Content Analysis. In: Fernández-Jalvo, Y., King, T., Yepiskoposyan, L., Andrews, P. (eds) Azokh Cave and the Transcaucasian Corridor. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24924-7_12

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