Far away from home? Ancient DNA shows the presence of bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) in Bronze Age Denmark
Abstract An excavation of an Early Iron Age village near Aalborg in Denmark uncovered the jaws and skull fragments from a small mammal that were morphologically identified to the genus Crocidura (white‐toothed shrews). Three Crocidura species are known from prehistoric continental Europe but none of...
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Wiley
2024-07-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11680 |
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| author | Mahsa Mousavi‐Derazmahalleh Niels Haue Marie Kanstrup Jørgen T. Laursen Sherralee S. Lukehurst Jacob Kveiborg Morten E. Allentoft |
| author_facet | Mahsa Mousavi‐Derazmahalleh Niels Haue Marie Kanstrup Jørgen T. Laursen Sherralee S. Lukehurst Jacob Kveiborg Morten E. Allentoft |
| author_sort | Mahsa Mousavi‐Derazmahalleh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract An excavation of an Early Iron Age village near Aalborg in Denmark uncovered the jaws and skull fragments from a small mammal that were morphologically identified to the genus Crocidura (white‐toothed shrews). Three Crocidura species are known from prehistoric continental Europe but none of them are distributed in Scandinavia, which is why this surprising finding warranted further analyses. The bone was radiocarbon‐dated to 2840–2750 calibrated years before present (cal. BP), corresponding to the Late Bronze Age and hence earlier than the Iron Age archeological context in which it was found. Using highly optimized ancient DNA protocols, we extracted DNA from one tooth and shotgun‐sequenced the sample to reconstruct a near‐complete mitochondrial reference genome (17,317 bp, 32.6× coverage). Phylogenetic analyses determined this specimen as a bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) but with a phylogenetic position basal to the clade of known sequences from this species. The confirmation of Crocidura presence in Denmark by the Late Bronze Age sheds new light on the prehistoric natural history of Scandinavia. We discuss the implications of this finding from both zoo‐archeological and ecological perspectives. Furthermore, the mitochondrial genome reconstructed in this study offers a valuable resource for future research exploring the genetic makeup and evolutionary history of Eurasian shrew populations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-01a5c5a4a8fa429ebb57bd6fc76fd7f1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-01a5c5a4a8fa429ebb57bd6fc76fd7f12025-08-20T03:55:58ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-07-01147n/an/a10.1002/ece3.11680Far away from home? Ancient DNA shows the presence of bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) in Bronze Age DenmarkMahsa Mousavi‐Derazmahalleh0Niels Haue1Marie Kanstrup2Jørgen T. Laursen3Sherralee S. Lukehurst4Jacob Kveiborg5Morten E. Allentoft6Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences Curtin University Bentley Western Australia AustraliaNorth Jutland Museums, Department of Archaeology Frederikshavn DenmarkAarhus AMS Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy Aarhus University Aarhus DenmarkJTL Fauna Consult Brabrand DenmarkTrace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences Curtin University Bentley Western Australia AustraliaDepartment of Archaeological Science and Conservation, Moesgaard Museum Højbjerg DenmarkTrace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences Curtin University Bentley Western Australia AustraliaAbstract An excavation of an Early Iron Age village near Aalborg in Denmark uncovered the jaws and skull fragments from a small mammal that were morphologically identified to the genus Crocidura (white‐toothed shrews). Three Crocidura species are known from prehistoric continental Europe but none of them are distributed in Scandinavia, which is why this surprising finding warranted further analyses. The bone was radiocarbon‐dated to 2840–2750 calibrated years before present (cal. BP), corresponding to the Late Bronze Age and hence earlier than the Iron Age archeological context in which it was found. Using highly optimized ancient DNA protocols, we extracted DNA from one tooth and shotgun‐sequenced the sample to reconstruct a near‐complete mitochondrial reference genome (17,317 bp, 32.6× coverage). Phylogenetic analyses determined this specimen as a bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) but with a phylogenetic position basal to the clade of known sequences from this species. The confirmation of Crocidura presence in Denmark by the Late Bronze Age sheds new light on the prehistoric natural history of Scandinavia. We discuss the implications of this finding from both zoo‐archeological and ecological perspectives. Furthermore, the mitochondrial genome reconstructed in this study offers a valuable resource for future research exploring the genetic makeup and evolutionary history of Eurasian shrew populations.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11680bicolored shrewBronze Age Denmarkmitochondrial genomewhite‐toothed shrews |
| spellingShingle | Mahsa Mousavi‐Derazmahalleh Niels Haue Marie Kanstrup Jørgen T. Laursen Sherralee S. Lukehurst Jacob Kveiborg Morten E. Allentoft Far away from home? Ancient DNA shows the presence of bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) in Bronze Age Denmark Ecology and Evolution bicolored shrew Bronze Age Denmark mitochondrial genome white‐toothed shrews |
| title | Far away from home? Ancient DNA shows the presence of bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) in Bronze Age Denmark |
| title_full | Far away from home? Ancient DNA shows the presence of bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) in Bronze Age Denmark |
| title_fullStr | Far away from home? Ancient DNA shows the presence of bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) in Bronze Age Denmark |
| title_full_unstemmed | Far away from home? Ancient DNA shows the presence of bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) in Bronze Age Denmark |
| title_short | Far away from home? Ancient DNA shows the presence of bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon) in Bronze Age Denmark |
| title_sort | far away from home ancient dna shows the presence of bicolored shrew crocidura leucodon in bronze age denmark |
| topic | bicolored shrew Bronze Age Denmark mitochondrial genome white‐toothed shrews |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11680 |
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