10.5061/DRYAD.HF876
Allentoft, Morten E.
University of Copenhagen
Heller, Rasmus
University of Copenhagen
Holdaway, Richard N.
Palaecol Research Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
Bunce, Michael
Curtin University
Data from: Ancient DNA microsatellite analyses of the extinct New Zealand
giant moa (Dinornis robustus) identify relatives within a single fossil
site
Dryad
dataset
2015
relatedness
mid to late Holocene
Dinornis robustus
extinct megafauna
moa
2015-04-28T15:27:45Z
2015-04-28T15:27:45Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.2015.48
18373 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
By analysing ancient DNA (aDNA) from 74 14C-dated individuals of the
extinct South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus) of New Zealand, we
identified four dyads of closely related adult females. Although our total
sample included bones from four fossil deposits located within a 10 km
radius, these eight individuals had all been excavated from the same
locality. Indications of kinship were based on high pairwise genetic
relatedness (rXY) in six microsatellite markers genotyped from aDNA,
coupled with overlapping radiocarbon ages. The observed rXY values in the
four dyads exceeded a conservative cutoff value for potential relatives
obtained from simulated data. In three of the four dyads, the kinship was
further supported by observing shared and rare mitochondrial haplotypes.
Simulations demonstrated that the proportion of observed dyads above the
cutoff value was at least 20 times higher than expected in a randomly
mating population with temporal sampling, also when introducing population
structure in the simulations. We conclude that the results must reflect
social structure in the moa population and we discuss the implications for
future aDNA research.
Microsat allele calls for D. robustusMicrosat allele calls for the extinct
South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus), genotyped in six
microsatellite loci.D.robustus_microsats.xlsx
New Zealand
North Canterbury
South Island