The woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) was a cold-adapted herbivore, widely distributed from western Europe to north-east Siberia during the Late Pleistocene. Previous studies associate the extinction of the species ~14,000 years before present to climatic and vegetational changes, and suggest that later survival of populations in north-east Siberia may relate to the later persistence of open vegetation in that region. Here, we analyzed carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) stable isotopes and mitochondrial DNA sequences to elucidate the evolutionary ecology of the species. Our dataset comprised 286 woolly rhinoceros isotopic records, including 192 unpublished records, from across the species range, dating from >58,600 ¹⁴C years to ~14,000 years before present. Crucially, we present the first 71 isotopic records available to date of the 15,000 years preceding woolly rhinoceros extinction. The data reveal ecological flexibility and geographical variation in woolly rhinoceros stable isotope compositions through time. In north-east Siberia, we detected δ¹⁵N stability through time. This could reflect long-term environmental stability, and might have enabled the later survival of the species in the region. To further investigate the palaeoecology of woolly rhinoceroses, we compared their isotopic compositions with that of other contemporary herbivores. This analysis suggests possible niche partitioning between woolly rhinoceros and both horse (Equus spp.) and woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), and isotopic similarities between woolly rhinoceros and both musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) and saiga (Saiga tatarica) at different points in time. To provide phylogeographical context to the isotopic data, we analyzed 61 published mitochondrial control region sequences. The data show a lack of geographic structuring; we found three haplogroups with overlapping distributions, all of which show a signal of expansion during the Last Glacial Maximum. Furthermore, our genetic findings support the notion that environmental stability in Siberia had an impact on the paleoecology of woolly rhinoceroses in the region. Our study highlights the utility of combining stable isotopic records with ancient DNA to advance our knowledge of the evolutionary ecology of past populations and extinct species.

中文翻译：

---

羊毛犀牛的晚更新世古生态学和系统学

羊毛犀牛（Coelodonta antiquitatis）是一种适应寒冷的草食动物，在晚更新世期间从西欧广泛分布到西伯利亚东北部。先前的研究将距今约14,000年的物种灭绝与气候和植被变化相关联，并暗示西伯利亚东北部种群的较晚生存可能与该地区较晚的开放性植被有关。在此，我们分析了碳（δ ¹³ C）和氮（δ ¹⁵ N）的稳定同位素和线粒体DNA序列阐明物种进化生态。我们的数据集包括286种羊毛犀牛同位素记录，其中包括192种未发表的记录，这些记录来自整个物种范围，起始于> 58,600^{从现在的14} C年到大约14,000年。至关重要的是，我们提出了迄今为止羊毛犀牛灭绝之前15,000年的头71个同位素记录。数据揭示了羊毛犀牛稳定同位素组成随时间的生态灵活性和地理变化。在东北西伯利亚，我们发现δ ¹⁵通过时间N稳定性。这可能反映了长期的环境稳定性，并且可能使该物种在该地区的后来生存。为了进一步研究羊毛犀牛的古生态，我们将它们的同位素组成与其他当代草食动物的同位素组成进行了比较。该分析表明，在羊毛犀牛与马（Equus spp。）和羊毛猛ma象（Engus spp。）之间可能存在生态位分配mm（Mammuthus primigenius）以及羊毛犀牛与麝牛（Ovibos moschatus）和赛加羚羊（Saiga tatarica）之间的同位素相似性。）在不同的时间点。为了向同位素数据提供系统地理背景，我们分析了61种公开的线粒体控制区序列。数据表明缺乏地理结构。我们发现了三个具有重叠分布的单倍群，所有这些单倍群在最后一次冰河极大期都显示出扩张的信号。此外，我们的遗传发现支持这样的观念，即西伯利亚的环境稳定性对该地区的羊毛犀牛的古生态有影响。我们的研究突出了将稳定的同位素记录与古代DNA相结合的实用性，以增进我们对过去种群和灭绝物种进化生态学的认识。