Ancient DNA from a 2700-year-old goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) supports gazelle hunting in Iron Age Central Asia.

Central Asia has been an important region connecting the different parts of Eurasia throughout history and prehistory, with large states developing in this region during the Iron Age. Archaeogenomics is a powerful addition to the zooarchaeological toolkit for understanding the relation of these societies to animals. Here, we present the genetic identification of a goitered gazelle specimen (Gazella subgutturosa) at the site Gazimulla-Tepa, in modern-day Uzbekistan, supporting hunting of the species in the region during the Iron Age. The sample was directly radiocarbon dated to 2724-2439 calBP. A phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial genome places the individual into the modern variation of G. subgutturosa. Our data do represent both the first ancient DNA and the first nuclear DNA sequences of this species. The lack of genomic resources available for this gazelle and related species prevented us from performing a more in-depth analysis of the nuclear sequences generated. Therefore, we are making our sequence data available to the research community to facilitate other research of this nowadays threatened species which has been subject to human hunting for several millennia across its entire range on the Asian continent.

A study on the genetic population structure and the tetrodotoxin content of rough-skinned newts, Taricha granulosa (Salamandridae), from their northern range of distribution.

Rough-skinned newts, Taricha granulosa, which contain tetrodotoxin (TTX), a potent neurotoxin, are widely distributed along the west-coast of North America up to British Columbia (BC), Canada, and Southeast Alaska. Their genetic population structure using DNA-microsatellites and the TTX-content of specimens from British Columbia (Prince Rupert area) and Alaska (Revillagigedo Island, Shelter Island, and Juneau) were analysed. TTX-concentrations were low in newts from BC and Revillagigedo Island, but high in specimens from mainland Juneau, which had been deliberately introduced from Shelter Island, where TTX was not detectable in the individuals sampled. No significant genetic differences were detected between these populations, which may correlate with the high intraspecies variability of TTX. It is still an open question, which factors favour or induce the toxin production in the newts.

Publisher Correction: The early history of wheat in China from 14C dating and Bayesian chronological modelling.

In the version of this Article originally published, the x and y axis labels in Fig. 1 were switched over; the correct labels are: 'Longitude (° N)' on the x axis, and 'Latitude (° E)' on the y axis. This figure has now been amended in all versions of the Article.

The early history of wheat in China from 14C dating and Bayesian chronological modelling.

Wheat is regarded as one of the most important West Asian domesticates that were introduced into Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age China. Despite a growing body of archaeological data, the timing and routes of its dispersal remain controversial. New radiocarbon (14C) dating evidence from six archaeological sites in the Shandong and Liaoning Peninsulas and Bayesian modelling of available 14C data from China suggest that wheat appeared in the lower Yellow River around 2600 Before Common Era (BCE), followed by Gansu and Xinjiang around 1900 BCE and finally occurred in the middle Yellow River and Tibet regions by 1600 BCE. These results neither support long-standing hypotheses of a progressive spread of wheat agriculture from Xinjiang or Gansu to eastern China nor suggest a nearly synchronous appearance in this vast zone, but corroborate transmission to lower Yellow River elites as an exotic good through cultural interactions with the Eurasian steppe along north-south routes.