Megafaunal split ends: Microscopical characterisation of hair structure and function in extinct woolly mammoth and woolly rhino
Megafaunal split ends: Microscopical characterisation of hair structure and function in extinct woolly mammoth and woolly rhino
复制标题
巨型动物分叉：已灭绝猛犸象和披毛犀毛发结构和功能的微观表征
DOI：
10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.10.032
复制
发表时间：
2014
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
M. Bunce
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
S. Tridico;P. Rigby;K. Kirkbride;J. Haile;M. Bunce
晚更新世已灭绝的大型大型动物物种--猛犸象和长毛犀牛，以它们的皮毛而闻名。尽管如此，对这些标志性物种的毛发的形态和功能的研究却很少。利用从7个已灭绝的大型动物遗骸中提取的永久冻土层保存的毛发样本，本研究对420多根毛发的保存、分类、微生物损伤、色素和形态特征进行了深入的显微特征分析。在两个灭绝的大型动物物种的毛发中存在独特的结构特征，例如多个髓质和无与伦比的僵硬，这表明特征的进化可能对它们在严酷的北极环境中的生存至关重要。最后，尽管对红头发和/或统一颜色的猛犸象的描述很流行，但仔细观察色素变化就会发现，猛犸象的外套可能表现出了斑驳/斑驳的外观，它们的“真实”颜色并不是重建图中经常描绘的鲜艳的红色/橙色。对数百根灭绝的巨型动物毛发进行显微镜检查所获得的见解表明，在进行破坏性采样进行分子分析之前，从古代毛发中提取尽可能多的形态数据是有价值的。
The large extinct megafaunal species of the Late Pleistocene,Mammuthus primigenius(woolly mammoth) andCoelodonta antiquitatis(woolly rhino) are renowned for their pelage. Despite this, very little research has been conducted on the form and function of hair from these iconic species. Using permafrost preserved hair samples from seven extinct megafaunal remains, this study presents an in-depth microscopical characterisation of preservation, taphonomy, microbial damage, pigmentation and morphological features of more than 420 hairs. The presence of unique structural features in hairs, from two extinct megafauna species, such as multiple medullae and unparallelled stiffness suggests evolution of traits that may have been critical for their survival in the harsh arctic environment. Lastly, despite popular depictions of red-haired and/or uniformly coloured mammoths, a closer examination of pigmentation reveals that mammoth coats may have exhibited a mottled/variegated appearance and that their ‘true’ colours were not the vivid red/orange colour often depicted in reconstructions. Insights gained from microscopical examination of hundreds of extinct megafauna hairs demonstrate the value of extracting as much morphological data as possible from ancient hairs prior to destructive sampling for molecular analyses.