Ivory From 1533 Shipwreck Tracked Using DNA – Provides New Insights on Elephants and 16th Century Trading

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Elephant With Tusks

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In 1533, the Bom Jesus — a Portuguese trading vessel bring 40 lots of freight consisting of gold, silver, copper and more than 100 elephant tusks — sank off the coast of Africa near contemporary Namibia. The wreck was discovered in 2008, and researchers state they now have actually figured out the source of much of the ivory recuperated from the ship.

Their research study, reported in the journal Current Biology, utilized different methods, consisting of a genomic analysis of DNA drawn out from the unspoiled tusks, to figure out the types of elephants, their geographical origins and the kinds of landscapes they resided in prior to they were eliminated for their tusks.

The ivory had actually been stowed in a lower level of the Bom Jesus under a weighty freight of copper and lead ingots, stated Alida de Flamingh, a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who led the research study with U. of I. animal sciences teacher Alfred Roca and sociology teacher Ripan Malhi.

“When the ship sank, the ingots compressed the tusks into the seabed, preventing a lot of physical erosion by sea currents that can lead to the destruction and scattering of shipwreck artifacts,” de Flamingh stated. “There is also an extremely cold sea current in that region of coastal Namibia, which likely also helped preserve the DNA in the shipwrecked tusks.”

The group drawn out DNA from 44 tusks.

African Forest Elephant

A brand-new research study examined the biggest historical freight of African ivory ever discovered, scientists report. All of the elephant tusks were from African forest elephants, Loxodonta cyclotis. Credit: Photo by Nicholas Georgiadis

By examining hereditary series understood to vary in between African forest and savanna elephants, the researchers figured out that all of the tusks they examined come from forest elephants. A more evaluation of mitochondrial DNA, which is passed just from moms to their offspring, provided a more accurate geographical origin of the elephant tusks than is otherwise readily available.

“Elephants live in matriarchal family groups, and they tend to stay in the same geographic area throughout their lives,” de Flamingh stated. “By comparing the shipwrecked ivory mitochondrial DNA with that from elephants with known origins across Africa, we were able to pinpoint specific regions and species of elephants whose tusks were found in the shipwreck.”

Shipwrecked Elephant Tusks

Elephant tusks recuperated from the shipwreck were abnormally unspoiled. Credit: Photo courtesy National Museum of Namibia

All 44 tusks were from elephants living in West Africa. None came from Central Africa.

“This is consistent with the establishment of Portuguese trading centers along the West African coast during this period of history,” de Flamingh stated.

The group utilized DNA to trace the elephants to 17 household lineages, just 4 of which are understood to continue Africa.

“The other lineages disappeared because West Africa has lost more than 95% of its elephants in subsequent centuries due to hunting and habitat destruction,” Roca stated.

The group is including the brand-new DNA series to the Loxodonta Localizer, an open-access tool established at the U. of I. that permits users to compare mitochondrial DNA series gathered from poached elephant tusks with those in an online database gathered from elephants throughout the African continent.

Shipwrecked Elephant Tusks UIUC Research Team

From left, animal sciences teacher Alfred Roca, postdoctoral scientist Alida de Flamingh and sociology teacher Ripan Malhi led a group that examined DNA drawn out from elephant tusks recuperated from a 16th century shipwreck. Composite image from different pictures, in compliance with COVID-19 security procedures. Credit: Photo by L. Brian Stauffer

To find out more about the environments the elephants populated, Oxford University Pitt Rivers Museum research study fellow and research study co-author Ashley Coutu examined the steady carbon and nitrogen isotopes of 97 tusks. The ratios of these isotopes vary depending upon the kinds of plants the elephants taken in and the quantity of rains in the environment.

That analysis exposed that the elephants resided in combined environments, changing from forested locations to savannas in various seasons, more than likely in reaction to water accessibility.

“Our data help us to understand the ecology of the West African forest elephant in its historic landscape, which has relevance to modern wildlife conservation,” Coutu stated.

“Our study analyzed the largest archaeological cargo of African ivory ever found,” de Flamingh stated. “By combining complementary analytical approaches from multiple scientific fields, we were able to pinpoint the origin of the ivory with a resolution that is not possible using any single approach. The research provides a framework for examining the vast collections of historic and archaeological ivories in museums across the world.”

de Flamingh performed the DNA analysis in the Malhi Molecular Anthropology Laboratory at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the U. of I. This job was a multi-institutional effort including partners in Namibia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

Reference: 17 December 2020, Current Biology.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.086

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service African Elephant Conservation Fund, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Research Foundation of South Africa, Department of Science and Technology of South Africa, and Claude Leon Foundation supported this research study.