Molecular Coproscopy: Dung and Diet of the Extinct Ground Sloth <i>Nothrotheriops shastensis</i>

TLDR

Ancient feces have not been amenable to DNA amplification, and the plant assemblage in the coprolite reflects a diet from elevations ~800 m higher than the cave site. DNA from excrements can be amplified by PCR after treating the coprolite with N‑phenacylthiazolium bromide, which cleaves cross‑links between reducing sugars and amino groups. Cross‑links between reducing sugars and amino groups were detected in a Pleistocene coprolite, and DNA analysis identified it as originating from the extinct Shasta ground sloth *Nothrotheriops shastensis* and revealed plant DNA from seven botanical groups.

Abstract

DNA from excrements can be amplified by means of the polymerase chain reaction. However, this has not been possible with ancient feces. Cross-links between reducing sugars and amino groups were shown to exist in a Pleistocene coprolite from Gypsum Cave, Nevada. A chemical agent, N -phenacylthiazolium bromide, that cleaves such cross-links made it possible to amplify DNA sequences. Analyses of these DNA sequences showed that the coprolite is derived from an extinct sloth, presumably the Shasta ground sloth Nothrotheriops shastensis . Plant DNA sequences from seven groups of plants were identified in the coprolite. The plant assemblage that formed part of the sloth's diet exists today at elevations about 800 meters higher than the cave.