The case of an arctic wild ass highlights the utility of ancient DNA for validating problematic identifications in museum collections

Museum collections are essential for reconstructing and understanding past biodiversity. Many museum specimens are, however, challenging to identify. Museum samples may be incomplete, have an unusual morphology, or represent juvenile individuals, all of which complicate accurate identification. In s...

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Published inMolecular ecology resources Vol. 20; no. 5; pp. 1182 - 1190
Main Authors Vershinina, Alisa O., Kapp, Joshua D., Baryshnikov, Gennady F., Shapiro, Beth
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2020
Subjects
ancient DNA
Asiatic wild ass
Biodiversity
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Equus caballus
Equus ferus
Equus hemionus
Fossils
Horses
Hybridization
Ice environments
Identification
Mandible
Mitochondrial DNA
Morphology
Museum collections
Museums
Paleoecology
Phylogeny
Pleistocene
Polar environments
Equus caballus
Asiatic wild ass
ancient DNA
Equus ferus
Equus hemionus
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Summary:Museum collections are essential for reconstructing and understanding past biodiversity. Many museum specimens are, however, challenging to identify. Museum samples may be incomplete, have an unusual morphology, or represent juvenile individuals, all of which complicate accurate identification. In some cases, inaccurate identification can lead to false biogeographic reconstructions with cascading impacts on paleontological and paleoecological research. Here, we analyzed an unusual Equid mandible found in the Far North of the Taymyr peninsula that was identified morphologically as Equus hemionus, an ancestor of present‐day Asiatic wild asses. If correct, this identification represents the only finding of a putative Late Pleistocene hemione in the Arctic region, and is therefore critical to understanding wild ass evolution and paleoecology. To confirm the accuracy of this specimen's taxonomic assignment, we used ancient DNA and mitochondrial hybridization capture to identify and place this specimen in the larger equid phylogeny. We find that the specimen is actually a member of E. caballus, the ancestor of domestic horses. Our study demonstrates the utility of ancient DNA to validate morphological identification, in particular of incomplete, otherwise problematic, or taxonomically unusual museum specimens.
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ISSN:1755-098X
1755-0998
DOI:10.1111/1755-0998.13130