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Evolution and extinction of the giant rhinoceros Elasmotherium sibiricum sheds light on late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions

Abstract

Understanding extinction events requires an unbiased record of the chronology and ecology of victims and survivors. The rhinoceros Elasmotherium sibiricum, known as the ‘Siberian unicorn’, was believed to have gone extinct around 200,000 years ago—well before the late Quaternary megafaunal extinction event. However, no absolute dating, genetic analysis or quantitative ecological assessment of this species has been undertaken. Here, we show, by accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of 23 individuals, including cross-validation by compound-specific analysis, that E. sibiricum survived in Eastern Europe and Central Asia until at least 39,000 years ago, corroborating a wave of megafaunal turnover before the Last Glacial Maximum in Eurasia, in addition to the better-known late-glacial event. Stable isotope data indicate a dry steppe niche for E. sibiricum and, together with morphology, a highly specialized diet that probably contributed to its extinction. We further demonstrate, with DNA sequencing data, a very deep phylogenetic split between the subfamilies Elasmotheriinae and Rhinocerotinae that includes all the living rhinoceroses, settling a debate based on fossil evidence and confirming that the two lineages had diverged by the Eocene. As the last surviving member of the Elasmotheriinae, the demise of the ‘Siberian unicorn’ marked the extinction of this subfamily.

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Fig. 1: Artist’s impression and mounted skeleton of Elasmotherium species.
Fig. 2: Map of distribution and samples analysed.
Fig. 3: Plot of calibrated ages for E. sibiricum.
Fig. 4: Maximum clade credibility tree of rhinoceroses and selected outgroup perissodactyls resulting from our time-calibrated BEAST analyses.
Fig. 5: Stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) values of various species.

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Data availability

The four mitochondrial genome consensus sequences with coverage ≥80% and mean read depth ≥5× are available on GenBank (MH937513-MH937516). All consensus sequences, unmapped sequencing reads and phylogenetic analysis files associated with our ancient DNA work are available on Figshare (https://doi.org/10.25909/5ba34a40ba925). All the radiocarbon data generated at the ORAU and CIO are archived internally at the respective laboratories, and are available upon request. ORAU data are also available on the laboratory’s website, along with a link to the paper.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P.-O. Antoine for discussion, J. Saarinen for estimating the body mass of Elasmotherium, the Museum of the IPAE UB RAS and L. Petrov for providing bone samples for analysis, P. Campos for help with the stable isotope data, S. Brace for initial work on ancient DNA, the team of the ORAU for AMS dating and J. Hagstrum for an early stimulus to the study. Funding was provided by the Australian Research Council and Natural Environment Research Council, UK (grant number NE/G005982/1). Funding for part of the research was provided by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)—ERC grant 324139 ‘PalaeoChron’ award to T.H. This study was partly supported by the programme of the UB RAS (project number 18-4-4-3).

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Contributions

P.K., T.v.K., A.J.S., A.M.L. and A.C. conceived the project. P.K., A.T. and E.P. provided samples and contextual information. Ancient DNA work and phylogenetic analyses were performed by K.J.M. and coordinated by A.C. Radiocarbon data were obtained and analysed by T.H., T.D. and D.C. at the ORAU, and J.v.d.P. at the CIO, while C.T. and T.H. undertook age modelling. Stable isotope analysis was performed and interpreted by M.K., while C.T. and A.J.S. provided context on climate and extinctions, respectively. All authors contributed to interpretation of the results and writing of the manuscript, which was coordinated by A.M.L.

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Correspondence to Adrian M. Lister.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Specimen provenances; detailed methods for DNA, stable isotope and radiocarbon dating analysis; Supplementary Figures 1,2 and Supplementary Tables 1–9; OxCal code for PHASE modelling; Supplementary References

Reporting Summary

Supplementary Table 1

Specimen numbers, localities, and summary of radiocarbon results. Raw radiocarbon dates are quoted ± 1-sigma; calibrated dates as 2-sigma range rounded to the nearest 10

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Kosintsev, P., Mitchell, K.J., Devièse, T. et al. Evolution and extinction of the giant rhinoceros Elasmotherium sibiricum sheds light on late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions. Nat Ecol Evol 3, 31–38 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0722-0

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