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Headline: Palaeontologists find 'trans' woolly mammoth that was neither male nor female
Caption: **VIDEO AVAILABLE: CONTACT INFO@COVERMG.COM TO RECEIVE** BY MARK WORGAN Scientists have identified a ‘trans’ woolly mammoth that was neither biologically male nor female. It is the first recorded case of its kind in an extinct species. The mammoth, found on Wrangel Island, had a rare genetic condition known as X0/XX mosaicism. It had a single X chromosome in some cells and two X chromosomes in others. The discovery came as researchers analysed ancient DNA from 521 woolly mammoths across Eurasia and North America, including 448 individuals whose genomes had not previously been sequenced. The study, published in Current Biology, also found evidence that Ice Age humans selectively targeted female mammoths. Researchers found a striking difference in the sex ratio between mammoths that died naturally and those whose remains accumulated at archaeological sites associated with human activity. Among mammoths found in dispersed natural settings, 34% were female and 66% male. At accumulation sites, the ratio was reversed, with 70% female and 30% male. “Whether these massive mammoth bone accumulations were formed naturally or by human hunting has been debated for decades”, says David Díez del Molino, Researcher at the Centre for Palaeogenetics and co-senior author of the study. “By comparing the genetic sex ratios of hundreds of mammoths from natural settings with those found in these archaeological contexts, we can now infer that human activity was the primary driver behind these bone accumulations.” The researchers say the findings could shed light on how Ice Age hunter-gatherers interacted with mammoths. Mammoth remains from natural settings were more likely to be male, possibly because solitary males were more prone to becoming trapped in natural hazards such as sinkholes and landslides, increasing the likelihood their bones would be preserved. By contrast, the strong female bias at archaeological sites suggests human activity played a major role in creating the large bone accumulations. “We know that Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers sometimes hunted mammoths directly, as evidenced by projectile points embedded in mammoth bones, and they may also have scavenged material from carcasses”, says Jarosław Wilczyński, archaeologist at the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences. “While it is tempting to assume that hunters would have targeted females because they were smaller than adult males, the reality may have been more complex. If mammoths behaved like modern elephants, females living in matriarchal herds may have had group defences that would have made encounters with herds equally or even more risky. Another possibility is that female-led herds moved across the landscape in more predictable ways than solitary males, meaning Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers may simply have encountered them more frequently, whether for hunting or scavenging”, says Hannah M. Moots, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Palaeogenetics and lead author of the study. Mammoths were an important resource for Ice Age communities, providing meat, fat, hides and bones for construction, as well as ivory for tools, artwork and ornaments. The archaeological sites studied include 11 major Ice Age locations across Eurasia, dating from about 30,000 to 20,000 years ago. Researchers compared 100 mammoths from these human-associated accumulations with 421 animals from natural settings, creating one of the largest genetic datasets of woolly mammoths assembled to date. “This research demonstrates the power of ancient DNA studies to answer long-standing archaeological questions”, says Love Dalén, Professor in Evolutionary Genomics at Stockholm University, co-senior author of the study. “By scaling up sample sizes, ancient DNA can go beyond evolutionary history to teach us about animal behaviour and human culture tens of thousands of years ago.” The discovery of the X0/XX mammoth adds another rare insight into the biology of the extinct animals. Researchers say it is the first time X0/XX mosaicism has been documented in an extinct species, providing a glimpse of genetic variation that would otherwise have been impossible to detect from bones alone.
Keywords: feature,photo,video,mammoths,trans,animals,nture
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