New Protein Markers to Reveal Hidden Biodiversity of Armadillos, Anteaters, and Sloths in South America
Researchers have developed the first ZooMS reference library for Xenarthrans, enabling precise identification of fragmented animal remains in archaeological and palaeontological contexts.
A new study has opened a window into South America’s faunal past by introducing a set of unique protein “fingerprints” that allow scientists to identify ancient remains of armadillos, anteaters, and sloths—collectively known as Xenarthrans. The collaborative study, published in Journal of Proteome Research, provides the first Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) reference library for this distinctive group of mammals.
Xenarthrans are endemic to the Americas, where they play crucial ecological roles—from insect control to nutrient cycling—and are key to maintaining healthy ecosystems. But because bone remains in archaeology and palaeontology are often hard to identify, studying the biographic histories, population dynamics, and human interactions of these species has remained a challenge for researchers.
To overcome this, the team developed a novel set of ZooMS peptide markers for ten living and extinct Xenarthran species, enabling taxonomic identification of fragmented and morphologically indistinct bone assemblages.
“This work represents a major step forward for South American zooarchaeology and palaeontology,” says Mariya Antonosyan, lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Coevolution of Land Use and Urbanisation (DLU), MPI GEA. “By improving the taxonomic resolution of fragmented bone assemblages, we can now better reconstruct past biodiversity, human–animal interactions, and ecological change.”
The newly developed reference framework not only deepens understandings of Xenarthran extinction and adaptation dynamics but also provides essential data for conservation and ecosystem restoration.
“By linking past and present species distributions, the research offers a valuable tool for modeling biodiversity responses to climate and human pressures across time,” says Patrick Roberts, director of the DLU and co-author of the study.
