Ancient Faunal History Revealed by Interdisciplinary Biomolecular Approaches

• Published in: Diversity (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 8; p. 370
• Main Authors: Rosengren, Erika, Acatrinei, Arina, Cruceru, Nicolae, Dehasque, Marianne, Haliuc, Aritina, Lord, Edana, Mircea, Cristina I., Rusu, Ioana, Mármol-Sánchez, Emilio, Kelemen, Beatrice S., Meleg, Ioana N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 10.08.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Amino acids; Ancient DNA; Ancient epigenomics; ancient genomics; Ancient lipidomics; Ancient proteomics; Animal behavior; Animal populations; Anthropogenic factors; Bears; Biologi; Biological Sciences; Biomolecular archaeology; biomolecular archaeology and palaeontology; Biomolecules; Buffalo; Collagen; Deoxyribonucleic acid; diversity; Diversity of life; DNA; Domestication; Ecology; Ekologi; Endangered & extinct species; Environmental Sciences; Evolution; Evolutionary Biology; Evolutionsbiologi; Extinct species; Extinction; fauna; Genetic diversity; Genetics; Genomes; Human influences; Isotopes; Lipids; Livets mångfald; Megafauna; Mitochondrial DNA; Natural Sciences; Naturvetenskap; palaeoecology; Palaeogenomics; paleoecology; paleontology; Pleistocene; Proteomes; Sediments; Species extinction; Stable isotope; Stable isotopes; wild and domestic ancient fauna; Europe; ancient genomics; stable isotopes; ancient proteomics; ancient lipidomics; ancient epigenomics; wild and domestic ancient fauna; ancient DNA; biomolecular archaeology and palaeontology; palaeoecology
• ISSN: 1424-2818; 1424-2818
• DOI: 10.3390/d13080370

Starting four decades ago, studies have examined the ecology and evolutionary dynamics of populations and species using short mitochondrial DNA fragments and stable isotopes. Through technological and analytical advances, the methods and biomolecules at our disposal have increased significantly to now include lipids, whole genomes, proteomes, and even epigenomes. At an unprecedented resolution, the study of ancient biomolecules has made it possible for us to disentangle the complex processes that shaped the ancient faunal diversity across millennia, with the potential to aid in implicating probable causes of species extinction and how humans impacted the genetics and ecology of wild and domestic species. However, even now, few studies explore interdisciplinary biomolecular approaches to reveal ancient faunal diversity dynamics in relation to environmental and anthropogenic impact. This review will approach how biomolecules have been implemented in a broad variety of topics and species, from the extinct Pleistocene megafauna to ancient wild and domestic stocks, as well as how their future use has the potential to offer an enhanced understanding of drivers of past faunal diversity on Earth.