H2020Индивидуална стипендия2021–2023

STAMPEDE · Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Modern and Past Elephant DivErsity

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2021-06-01 → 2023-05-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 219 312 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Генетичното разнообразие на африканските слонове се анализира чрез сравнение между съвременни популации и проби от слонова кост от корабно корабление преди 2500 години. Това помага да се разберат изчезналите популации и да се създаде генетична карта за бъдещото опазване на вида.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Modern and Past Elephant DivErsity

Elephants played a prominent role in human history since the the ancient times, which is documented by an abundance of ivory products nowadays housed in public and private collections worldwide. Elephant ivory is an integral part of human history because it was a global commodity creating some of the oldest trade routes. Yet, very little is known about elephants in the historical times, because DNA and samples do not get preserved well in the hot climate of the low latitudes. However, an unexpected solution to the problem might be to study the ivory that has made its way out of Africa, and in this proof-of-concept project, I study three samples of ivory found in a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship, likely sailing from North Africa, sank 2,500 years ago near the coast of Spain. Understanding where did the ivory come from can provide information about genetic variation, and perhaps whole populations, which have become extinct since those times. To put these ancient samples in context, I first generate a genomic catalogue of present-day elephant diversity by sequencing whole genomes from elephants from across their current range. Besides being a genetic map, upon which the ancient samples can be projected, this dataset is also an invaluable resource for further elephant research and conservation. Thus, the overall objective of this project was to study the genetic diversity of African elephants that remains in the present, and to put it into the perspective of the diversity that has already gone extinct by studying ivory from a shipwreck.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

The proposed project aims to investigate novel ways of bridging the study of evolutionary history of extinct populations with the study of conservation genetics of populations threatened by extinction. I plan to use a multidimensional approach by studying populations across time, space, and scientific fields. Combining the spatio-temporal and cross-disciplinary aspects, I plan to create a unique source of genetic information about African elephants in the past and present. I will do this by generating low-depth genomic data for 500 African elephants from across the current range, which will be used for analyses of present-day genetic diversity and connectivity. In addition, this genomic catalogue will be used to identify the provenance of ancient ivory from the Bajo de la Campana shipwreck that sank near the Iberian coast ~600-500 BCE. This ivory is assumed to have originated in North Africa, and thus, represents a rare opportunity to generate first data of an extinct population of elephants. These were likely the elephants that were used as war elephants during the Punic Wars, but there is an ongoing discussion about which species they belonged to. Using ancient DNA techniques to recover DNA from the shipwreck ivory, I will test if they represent a genetically distinct lineage or show affinity to any of the modern populations. Although the goals of this project are ambitious, all pieces required for its successful realization are already in place, including a network of collaborators providing access to samples, expertise of the supervisor and host institute in conservation projects and bioinformatics, and my expertise in palaeogenomics and conservation genomics. The findings of this project have the potential to yield important scientific achievements and serve as a valuable resource for conservation management, while I will be able to use the acquired experience and training to profile myself as an independent research leader.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET · KOBENHAVNКоординаторДания