小柯机器人

丹麦哥本哈根大学Eske Willerslev和Kurt H. Kjær共同合作，近期取得重要工作进展。他们通过鉴定环境DNA（eDNA），发现了格陵兰岛具有200万年历史的生态系统。这一研究成果2022年12月7日在线发表于《自然》杂志上。

据介绍，360万至80万年前的上新世晚期和更新世早期的气候与未来变暖预测的气候相似。古气候记录显示极性放大，年平均气温为11–19°C，高于当代值。由于化石稀少，在此期间居住在北极的生物群落仍然鲜为人知。

研究人员报告了一份古老的eDNA记录，描述了北格陵兰岛的Kap København地层中丰富的植物和动物组合，可追溯到大约200万年前。该记录显示了一个开放的北方森林生态系统，其中有杨树、桦树和崖柏的混合植被，以及多种北极和北方灌木和草本植物，其中许多以前从未在大化石和花粉记录中发现过。DNA记录证实了野兔和线粒体DNA的存在，这些动物包括乳齿象、驯鹿、啮齿类动物和鹅，它们的祖先都是现今和更新世晚期的亲戚。包括马蹄蟹和绿藻在内的海洋物种的存在支持了比今天更温暖的气候。重建的生态系统没有现代的类似物。这种古老eDNA的存活可能与它跟矿物表面的结合有关。

总之，这一发现开辟了遗传学研究的新领域，表明使用古老的eDNA可以追踪200万年前生物群落的生态和演化。

附：英文原文

Title: A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA

Author: Kjr, Kurt H., Winther Pedersen, Mikkel, De Sanctis, Bianca, De Cahsan, Binia, Korneliussen, Thorfinn S., Michelsen, Christian S., Sand, Karina K., Jelavi, Stanislav, Ruter, Anthony H., Schmidt, Astrid M. A., Kjeldsen, Kristian K., Tesakov, Alexey S., Snowball, Ian, Gosse, John C., Alsos, Inger G., Wang, Yucheng, Dockter, Christoph, Rasmussen, Magnus, Jrgensen, Morten E., Skadhauge, Birgitte, Prohaska, Ana, Kristensen, Jeppe ., Bjerager, Morten, Allentoft, Morten E., Coissac, Eric, Rouillard, Alexandra, Simakova, Alexandra, Fernandez-Guerra, Antonio, Bowler, Chris, Macias-Fauria, Marc, Vinner, Lasse, Welch, John J., Hidy, Alan J., Sikora, Martin, Collins, Matthew J., Durbin, Richard, Larsen, Nicolaj K., Willerslev, Eske

Issue&Volume: 2022-12-07

Abstract: Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene epochs 3.6 to 0.8 million years ago1 had climates resembling those forecasted under future warming2. Palaeoclimatic records show strong polar amplification with mean annual temperatures of 11–19°C above contemporary values3,4. The biological communities inhabiting the Arctic during this time remain poorly known because fossils are rare5. Here we report an ancient environmental DNA6 (eDNA) record describing the rich plant and animal assemblages of the Kap Kbenhavn Formation in North Greenland, dated to around two million years ago. The record shows an open boreal forest ecosystem with mixed vegetation of poplar, birch and thuja trees, as well as a variety of Arctic and boreal shrubs and herbs, many of which had not previously been detected at the site from macrofossil and pollen records. The DNA record confirms the presence of hare and mitochondrial DNA from animals including mastodons, reindeer, rodents and geese, all ancestral to their present-day and late Pleistocene relatives. The presence of marine species including horseshoe crab and green algae support a warmer climate than today. The reconstructed ecosystem has no modern analogue. The survival of such ancient eDNA probably relates to its binding to mineral surfaces. Our findings open new areas of genetic research, demonstrating that it is possible to track the ecology and evolution of biological communities from two million years ago using ancient eDNA.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05453-y

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05453-y

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
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