RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Rise and Fall of the Beringian Steppe Bison
JF Science
JO Science
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP 1561
OP 1565
DO 10.1126/science.1101074
VO 306
IS 5701
A1 Shapiro, Beth
A1 Drummond, Alexei J.
A1 Rambaut, Andrew
A1 Wilson, Michael C.
A1 Matheus, Paul E.
A1 Sher, Andrei V.
A1 Pybus, Oliver G.
A1 Gilbert, M. Thomas P.
A1 Barnes, Ian
A1 Binladen, Jonas
A1 Willerslev, Eske
A1 Hansen, Anders J.
A1 Baryshnikov, Gennady F.
A1 Burns, James A.
A1 Davydov, Sergei
A1 Driver, Jonathan C.
A1 Froese, Duane G.
A1 Harington, C. Richard
A1 Keddie, Grant
A1 Kosintsev, Pavel
A1 Kunz, Michael L.
A1 Martin, Larry D.
A1 Stephenson, Robert O.
A1 Storer, John
A1 Tedford, Richard
A1 Zimov, Sergei
A1 Cooper, Alan
YR 2004
UL http://science.sciencemag.org/content/306/5701/1561.abstract
AB The widespread extinctions of large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene epoch have often been attributed to the depredations of humans; here we present genetic evidence that questions this assumption. We used ancient DNA and Bayesian techniques to reconstruct a detailed genetic history of bison throughout the late Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. Our analyses depict a large diverse population living throughout Beringia until around 37,000 years before the present, when the population's genetic diversity began to decline dramatically. The timing of this decline correlates with environmental changes associated with the onset of the last glacial cycle, whereas archaeological evidence does not support the presence of large populations of humans in Eastern Beringia until more than 15,000 years later.