• A 5700 year-old human genome and oral microbiome from chewed birch pitch 

      Jensen, Theis Zetner Trolle; Niemann, Jonas; Iversen, Katrine Højholt; Fotakis, Anna K.; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Vågene, Åshild J; Pedersen, Mikkel Winther; Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S.; Ellegaard, Martin R; Allentoft, Morten E.; Lanigan, Liam T; Taurozzi, Alberto J; Nielsen, Sofie Holtsmark; Dee, Michael W; Mortensen, Martin; Christensen, Mads C; Sørensen, Søren; Collins, Matthew J; Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius; Sikora, Martin; Rasmussen, Simon; Schroeder, Hannes (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2019)
      The rise of ancient genomics has revolutionised our understanding of human prehistory but this work depends on the availability of suitable samples. Here we present a complete ancienthuman genome and oral microbiome sequenced ...
    • An ‛Aukward’ tale: a genetic approach to discover the whereabouts of the last Great Auks 

      Thomas, Jessica E; Carvalho, Gary R.; Haile, James; Martin, Michael David; Castruita, Jose A. Samaniego; Niemann, Jonas; Sinding, Mikkel Holger Strander; Sandoval-Velasco, Marcela; Rawlence, Nicolas J.; Fuller, Errol; Fjeldså, Jon; Hofreiter, Michael; Stewart, John R; Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius; Knapp, Michael (Journal article; Peer reviewed, 2017)
      One hundred and seventy-three years ago, the last two Great Auks, Pinguinus impennis, ever reliably seen were killed. Their internal organs can be found in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, but the ...
    • The ancestry and geographical origins of St Helena's liberated Africans 

      Sandoval-Velasco, Marcela; Jagadeesan, Anuradha; Ramos-Madrigal, Jazmín; Ávila-Arcos, María C.; Fortes-Lima, Cesar A.; Watson, Judy; Johannesdóttir, Erna; Cruz-Dávalos, Diana I.; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Moreno-Mayar, J. Víctor; Niemann, Jonas; Renaud, Gabriel; Robson Brown, Katharine A.; Bennett, Helena; Pearson, Andrew; Helgason, Agnar; Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius; Schroeder, Hannes (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2023)
      The island of St Helena played a crucial role in the suppression of the transatlantic slave trade. Strategically located in the middle of the South Atlantic, it served as a staging post for the Royal Navy and reception ...
    • Demographic reconstruction from ancient DNA supports rapid extinction of the Great Auk 

      Thomas, Jessica E; Carvalho, Gary R.; James, Haile; Rawlence, Nicolas J.; Martin, Michael David; Ho, Simon Y.W.; Sigfússon, Arnór; Jósefsson, Vigfús A.; Frederiksen, Morten; Linnebjerg, Jannie F.; Castruita, Jose A. Samaniego; Niemann, Jonas; Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S.; Sandoval-Velasco, Marcela; Soares, André E.R.; Lacy, Robert; Barilaro, Christina; Best, Julia; Brandis, Dirk; Cavallo, Chiara; Elorza, Mikelo; Garrett, Kimball L; Groot, Maaike; Johansson, Friederike; Lifjeld, Jan Terje; Nilson, Göran; Serjeanston, Dale; Sweet, Paul; Fuller, Errol; Hufthammer, Anne Karin; Meldgaard, Morten; Fjeldså, Jon; Shapiro, Beth; Hofreiter, Michael; Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius; Knapp, Michael (Journal article; Peer reviewed, 2019)
      The great auk was once abundant and distributed across the North Atlantic. It is now extinct, having been heavily exploited for its eggs, meat, and feathers. We investigated the impact of human hunting on its demise by ...
    • Extended survival of Pleistocene Siberian wolves into the early 20th century on the island of Honshū 

      Niemann, Jonas; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki; Ramos-Madrigal, Jazmín; Wales, Nathan; Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius; Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S. (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2021)
      The Japanese or Honshū wolf was one the most distinct gray wolf subspecies due to its small stature and endemicity to the islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. Long revered as a guardian of farmers and travellers, it was ...
    • The genetic impact of an Ebola outbreak on a wild gorilla population 

      Fontsere, Claudia; Frandsen, Peter; Hernandez-Rodriguez, Jessica; Niemann, Jonas; Scharff-Olsen, Camilla Hjorth; Vallet, Dominique; Le Gouar, Pascaline; Ménard, Nelly; Navarro, Arcadi; Siegismund, Hans Redlef; Hvilsom, Christina; Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius; Kuhlwilm, Martin; Hughes, David; Marques-Bonet, Tomas (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2021)
      Background Numerous Ebola virus outbreaks have occurred in Equatorial Africa over the past decades. Besides human fatalities, gorillas and chimpanzees have also succumbed to the fatal virus. The 2004 outbreak at the ...
    • Genomes of Pleistocene Siberian Wolves Uncover Multiple Extinct Wolf Lineages 

      Ramos-Madrigal, Jazmín; Sinding, Mikkel Holger Strander; Carøe, Christian; Mak, Sarah Siu Tze; Niemann, Jonas; Samaniego Castruita, José A.; Fedorov, Sergey; Kandyba, Alexander; Germonpré, Mietje; Bocherens, Hervé; Feuerborn, Tatiana R.; Pitulko, Vladimir V.; Pavlova, Elena Y.; Nikolskiy, Pavel A.; Kasparov, Aleksei K.; Ivanova, Varvara V.; Larson, Greger; Frantz, Laurent A.F.; Willerslev, Eske; Meldgaard, Morten; Petersen, Bent; Sicheritz-Pontén, Thomas; Bachmann, Lutz; Wiig, Øystein; Hansen, Anders J.; Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2020)
      Extant Canis lupus genetic diversity can be grouped into three phylogenetically distinct clades: Eurasian and American wolves and domestic dogs.1 Genetic studies have suggested these groups trace their origins to a wolf ...
    • Probing the genomic limits of de-extinction in the Christmas Island rat 

      Lin, Jianqing; Duchêne, David; Carøe, Christian; Smith, Oliver; Ciucani, Marta Maria; Niemann, Jonas; Richmond, Douglas; Greenwood, Alex D.; MacPhee, Ross; Zhang, Guojie; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2022)
      Three principal methods are under discussion as possible pathways to “true” de-extinction; i.e., back-breeding, cloning, and genetic engineering.1,2 Of these, while the latter approach is most likely to apply to the largest ...