Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Collagen Peptide Markers Unlock Identities of Extinct Australian Megafauna

By using Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, scientists can differentiate three megafauna genera in environments unsuitable for DNA analysis.

Image
50,000-Year-Old Collagen Could Lead Us To Hippo-Sized Wombats In The Fossil Record
Palorchestes azael. Image credit: Nellie Pease / CABAH / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Overview

  • Researchers established reference peptide profiles for Zygomaturus trilobus, Palorchestes azael and Protemnodon mamkurra using collagen from fossils dated beyond 43,000 years ago.
  • ZooMS analysis distinguished Protemnodon from multiple living and extinct kangaroo genera and separated Zygomaturus and Palorchestes from other large marsupials.
  • Collagen’s resilience in hot, humid conditions extends species identification to fragmentary remains from tropical and sub-tropical fossil sites where DNA is degraded.
  • Enhanced identification capabilities promise a more comprehensive record of megafauna distributions and extinction timelines across ancient Sahul.
  • The new profiles may illuminate interactions between early humans and megafauna, including a possible overlap of Protemnodon mamkurra with first Tasmanian settlers.